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Modi to lead National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations in Madhya Pradesh today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fly to Madhya Pradesh for the first leg of his multi-city tour before landing in Kerala’s Kochi later in the day
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday fly to Madhya Pradesh for the first leg of his multi-city tour for events including National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations in the central Indian state’s Rewa on Monday and the flagging off the country’s first water metro in Kerala’s Kochi a day later.
In Rewa, Modi will address representatives and functionaries of Panchayati Raj institutions and village councils from across the country as part of the celebrations. He will also inaugurate the integrated e-GramSwaraj and government e-marketplace (GeM) portal for public procurement at the panchayat level.
Modi will preside over a virtual ceremony for the handover of homes of 411000 beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana affordable housing scheme for the urban poor in Rewa and inaugurate projects under the Jal Jeevan Mission, which seeks to provide safe drinking tap water by 2024 to all households
He will launch a “Joint Steps towards Development” campaign focused on extending benefits of government schemes to “the last mile” besides handing over Swamitva property survey programme cards to beneficiaries. He will also lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of the Gwalior railway station in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and inaugurate railway projects related to the doubling of tracks, gauge conversion, and electrification.
Later in the day, Modi will arrive in Kerala for a two-day visit and will among other things meet with senior Church leaders against the backdrop of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempts to reach out to the Christians.
News agency Press Trust of India reported Modi’s itinerary has no mention of the meeting but said BJP leaders confirmed it.
Christians account for 18.38% of the state’s population, Hindus 54.73%, and Muslims 26.56%. The BJP, which lost its lone seat in Kerala in the 2021 assembly elections, seeks to make inroads into the state. Outreach to the Christian community is seen as a key aspect of it.
Modi will land in Kochi around 5pm and hold a roadshow amid tight security. He will address a public meeting and hold an interaction at a youth conclave.
Modi will later travel to Thiruvananthapuram for flagging off the Vande Bharat Express train service there and to lay the foundation stone for the country’s first Digital Science Park.
In Kochi, Modi will on Tuesday flag off the integrated metro system connecting rail, road, and waterways for decongesting existing transport networks and to provide the cheapest travel to idyllic backwaters.
Modi will leave for Dadra and Nagar Haveli on Tuesday to inaugurate NAMO Medical College. He will travel to Daman and hold a 16-km long roadshow along a seafront road there before flying back to New Delhi.
