MANGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Mangaluru on Friday and dedicate and lay the foundation stone for eight projects worth Rs 3,800 crore at a public function at Goldfinch City grounds in Kuloor at 1.30 pm. Modi’s visit is expected to serve as a morale booster for the BJP cadres in the backdrop of a slew of corruption allegations by contractors of public works and killings of Hindutwa workers in Shivamoga and Dakshina Kannada.
Though the BJP leaders maintain that the event is purely a government function and has nothing to do with the party or the recent political developments in the state, they do agree that it will enthuse the party and its workers and set the ground for the 2023 assembly election.
In the last few days, BJP workers were busy mobilising people for the PM’s event. Nearly 2 lakh people are expected to turn up for the event out of which a majority of them will be party workers from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. The city has turned saffron with BJP flags and other publicity materials dotting the landscape.
Sources in the BJP admit that such a massive event was essential in the backdrop of recent political developments in the state that had helped the Opposition, especially the Congress, get a lot of traction. “The massive turn up at Siddaramotsava in Davanagere and freedom march in Bengaluru was an eye opener. We had to do something to match it and check the popularity of Congress.
Hope the PM’s event will pull the right strings and bring the BJP back on track,” said a senior BJP leader requesting anonymity. Sources said the turn up at the PM’s event will also gauge the cadres’ mood which has been severely dented following the killing of Harsha in Shivamoga and Praveen Nettaru in Dakshina Kannada and corruption charges.
Senior BJP leader Capt Ganesh Karnik maintained that the PM’s event has nothing to do with Nettaru’s murder and other political developments. “PM’s event was planned much before but had to be postponed due to rains and others,” he said. However, he admitted that the morale of cadres was low and PM’s visit has enthused them.
PM TO OPEN, LAY FOUNDATION STONE FOR EIGHT PROJECTS
Mangaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate and lay the foundation stone for eight projects worth Rs 3,800 crore during the public function at Goldfinch City grounds in Kuloor on Friday. Modi will inaugurate the mechanization of berth number 14 for handling containers and cargo project (Rs 281 crore), BS VI upgradation project (Rs 1,829 crore) and sea water desalination plant (Rs 677 crore).He will also lay the foundation stone for the construction of an integrated LPG and bulk liquid POL facility at NMPT (estimated cost Rs 500 crore), construction of storage tanks and edible oil refinery at NMPT (Rs 100 crore), construction of bitumen storage tank farms at NMPT (Rs 100 crore) and construction of bitumen, edible oil storage tanks and allied facilities at NMPT (Rs 100 crore). Besides, he will perform Bhoomi Pooja for the development of the fishing harbour (Rs 196.51 crore) at Kulai.