NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Assembly poll campaign of the BJP-led alliance in Punjab with a rally in Ferozepur on Wednesday. He will also lay foundations of several developmental projects.
The BJP’s election in-charge for Punjab and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been camping in the state to make preparations for the Ferozepur rally, which will be the first visit by the PM to Punjab after withdrawing the three farm laws.
The saffron party has set a target to bring in more than three lakh participants for the rally.
Modi’s visit to Punjab is coming in the backdrop of the BJP stitching a formal pre-poll alliance with former CM Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab People’s Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Samyukt).
During his Ferozepur visit, the PM will launch a host of developmental projects worth Rs 42,750 crore.
The PMO said that improving connectivity all across the country has led to multiple highway development initiatives being taken up in Punjab, leading to doubling the total length of NHs from about 1,700 km in 2014 to around 4,100 km in 2021.
One of the projects, the 669-km-long Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway is aimed at halving the travel time from Delhi to Amritsar and Katra.
“The expressway will connect key Sikh religious sites at Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Tarn Taran and the Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi in Katra.”