Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address his first electoral rally scheduled in Bulandshahr on Thursday. Given that Varanasi is the home constituency of Prime Minister Modi, the decision to start the campaign from Bulandshahr has sparked speculation about the strategic reasoning behind this choice. The Prime Minister will launch development projects worth more than `19,100 crore, including the 173-km-long double-line electrified section between New Khurja and New Rewari on the dedicated freight corridor (DFC), by flagging off goods trains from the two stations. The rally in Bulandshahr will mark the beginning of the election campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and comes days after the praan pratishthaa of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
The BJP claims that around five lakh people will attend PM Modi’s rally in Bulandshahr. Many in the BJP feel that Bulandshahr is also lucky for Narendra Modi, as the PM launched his campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from this city.
Prime Minister Modi also intends to connect with voters and supporters in areas where the party faced challenges in the previous elections. The focus is on sharing the winning mantra and garnering support in a bid to secure victory in the contested seats of western Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP, which swept Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by winning 71 out of 80 seats, saw, albeit inconsequential, a decline of nine seats in the 2019 general elections. Notably, the BJP holds eight out of 14 seats in western Uttar Pradesh, with defeats in six constituencies in 2019.
With the upcoming 2024 elections, Prime Minister Modi aims to reverse this trend, particularly in the eight out of 14 seats the BJP currently holds in the region.
As Congress and the Samajwadi Party engage in seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the political landscape in Uttar Pradesh seems poised for an intriguing contest in the months to come.
On this occasion, PM Modi will launch development projects worth more than `19,100 crore, including the 173-km-long double-line electrified section between New Khurja and New Rewari on the dedicated freight corridor, by flagging off goods trains from the two stations.
Officials stated that this new DFC section is crucial as it establishes connectivity between the western and eastern freight corridors. The section is also noteworthy for its remarkable engineering feat, featuring a one-kilometre-long double-line rail tunnel with high-rise electrification, the first of its kind in the world. This tunnel is designed to seamlessly operate double-stack container trains.
The new DFC section is expected to enhance the operation of passenger trains due to the shifting of goods trains onto the DFC track, they explained.
The prime minister will also inaugurate the fourth rail line connecting Mathura-Palwal and Chipiyana Buzurg-Dadri sections, along with multiple road development projects. These road projects, developed at a cumulative cost of more than `5,000 crore, will improve connectivity and contribute to the economic development of the region, they added.
Among other projects Modi will inaugurate is the Indian Oil’s Tundla-Gawaria pipeline and an “integrated industrial township at Greater Noida†(IITGN), developed in line with the prime minister’s vision of integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects under PM-GatiShakti.
Built at a cost of `1,714 crore, the project is spread over 747 acres and is located near the intersection of the eastern and western dedicated freight corridors, with the Eastern Peripheral Expressway to the south and the Delhi-Howrah broad gauge railway line to the east. IITGN’s strategic location ensures unparalleled connectivity, as other infrastructure for multi-modal connectivity is present in the vicinity of this project, officials said.
