BJP’s Santa Claus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is racing against time. With just a week left for the likely announcement of Assembly elections in the four poll bound states—Haryana, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand—ruled by Congress or with its allies, the Prime Minister has hit the road on a green signal spree, announcing new multicrore projects, laying foundation stones for many, and driving environmental clearances to projects stalled by Jairam Ramesh’s activism, and also kickstarting welfare schemes as if he was on a campaign trail. Once the elections are declared and the code of conduct kicks in, no fresh announcement of any new projects or schemes is permitted by the Election Commission. Hence, August has been particularly busy for Modi who will complete 100 days in office on September 2. In his whirlwind tours, he has announced, inaugurated or laid the foundation stones of 18 projects this month alone for Rs 42,000 crore, while the cabinet cleared three projects.
From promising 24x7 electricity for all, to creating a ‘Digital India’ by electronically connecting all the villages in country, Modi has been on a roll. Modi will now focus on clearing more projects and schemes. Among the key decisions will be the Rs 1.46 lakh crore Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan under which will be the Swachh Bharat (Clean India Mission ) scheme, Rs 14,000 crore for the manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicles, setting up solar power plants on canals, and Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (Rs 43,000 crore) to augment power supply to rural areas. Rs 200 crore for improving power transmission in Delhi will also get the nod in the state that could go for elections in the next a few months. Though, Nagpur Metro has already been approved, the proposal to build Ahmedabad Metro project (Rs 10,000 crore) and Lucknow Metro (Rs 6,880 crore) would come up for clearance at the next cabinet meeting.
In 2009, when the UPA came to power the second time on May 16, 2009, Assembly polls were due in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Jharkhand. Polls were announced on August 31 to be held on October 13, 2009. Today, the BJP-led NDA, which won the general elections on May 16, 2014—exactly five years later to the date— needs to win the coming Assembly polls to prove that the popularity if its leader is intact, if not increased. Full-page advertisements highlighting the projects to be inaugurated fill newspapers. The government media has been airing clips of the PM inaugurating projects, laying foundation stones or making speeches at audiences on the frontier at regular intervals.
KASHMIR IN HIS SIGHTS
Days before his first Independence Day speech at Red Fort, Modi had gone to Leh-Kargil on August 12 where he laid the foundation stone for the 245-km-long Leh-Kargil-Srinagar power transmission line to be built at a cost of Rs 1,788 crore and inaugurated a 45MW installed capacity Nimmo Bazgo hydroelectric power project on the River Indus. Later he drove down to Kargil to dedicate the 44MW Chutak hydropower station to the nation. Both his chutzpah and political savvy was apparent—addressing the gathering without protection from the bulletproof glass enclosure and overlooked by a hill under Pakistan control, Modi promised to work for the rehabilitation of 30 per cent of the state’s population and committed Rs 8,000 crore additional funding for road projects in the state. He had previously visited J&K in July to inaugurate the Jammu-Katra rail track that would provide train linkage to the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi visited by over one crore pilgrims every year. On the same day, he visited the border town of Uri to inaugurate the 240MW Uri-II hydropower project built by NHPC with Rs 2,290 crore. Legendary for his personal touch, on the spot he sanctioned the upgradation of the Kendriya Vidhalaya at Uri from Class 10 to Class 12 after an impassioned appeal by locals. The party hopes to corner all the four Assembly seats in the Leh-Kargil region, where the BJP won in the LS polls in May. Party chief Amit Shah will visit the state on Monday to lay the groundwork for choosing candidates and seat selections.
THE MAHA PUSH
After J&K, Modi’s next port of call was Maharashtra, which he visited twice in a week. On August 16, showing that patriotic muscle wasn’t lacking, he “dedicated to the nation” the indigenously designed warship INS Kolkata, declaring that it was a showcase of India’s Buddhi Bal (intellectual capabilities) and manufacturing capabilities. In Navi Mumbai the same day, he laid the foundation stones for the Rs 4,000 crore port-based multi-product SEZ and the Rs 1,900 core Port Connectivity Highway Project (Sagarmala). The SEZ project is projected to provide employment to 1.5 lakh youth. Later, he flew to Solapur to dedicate the 765 KV Solapur -Raichur transmission lines, and declare the Pune-Solapur section of NH-9 a four lane highway. He also laid the foundation for the four lane conversion of the Solapur Maharashtra/Karnataka Border Section of NH-9. Here he reminded the crowd that his government had granted permission to raise the height of the Narmada Dam, which would benefit Maharashtra with free electricity.
POLICY SPEAK
■ Namami Ganga Yojana, the mission to clean Ganga. The implementation of ambitious Rs 2,037-crore ‘Namami Ganga’ project is being worked out by joint group of various ministries.
■ Rs 1,000 crore allocated for Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana which aimed at providing assured irrigation to mitigate risk to the farmer.
■ Other schemes which are likely to launched in the coming days include Rs 500 crore Price Stabilisation Fund; Rs 4,000 crore funds for Housing for All by 2022
20 projects worth nearly Rs 1.2 lakh crore are ready to be sent to the new Union cabinet FOR quick approval