PM takes boat ride on Hooghly river in Kolkata, says committed to prosperity of Bengalis
Kolkata (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning took a boat ride on the Hooghly river here and said its divine waters carry the timeless spirit of an entire civilisation.
Modi also asserted that he was committed towards the development of West Bengal and the prosperity of the "great Bengali people".
The PM posted a few photographs of his river trip on social media, in which he is seen seated on a wooden boat with a camera in hand, and the iconic Howrah Bridge and the Vidyasagar Setu are visible in the background.
"Tried my hand at photographing this great river. Also caught a close glimpse of the Vidyasagar Setu and Howrah Bridge," the Prime Minister said on X.
For every Bengali, the Ganga occupies a very special place, he said.
"One can say that the Ganga flows through the soul of Bengal. Her divine waters carry the timeless spirit of an entire civilisation. This morning in Kolkata, I spent some time on the banks of the Hooghly river, an opportunity to express gratitude to Maa Ganga," Modi said on social media.
The Hooghly is the distributary of the Ganga river.
The Prime Minister said he had the opportunity to "meet boatmen, whose hardworking nature is admirable, and morning walkers" during the trip.
State BJP sources said Modi spent the night at Lok Bhavan here after he had led a roadshow from Howrah to Kolkata on Thursday evening.
He headed straight to the Princep Ghat this morning to have a boat ride, they said.
"Yesterday evening, during the long roadshow from Howrah to Kolkata, I was on Howrah Bridge. And this morning, I saw this bridge from the Hooghly River!", he said.
Modi also said, "On the Hooghly, reiterated our commitment to work towards the development of West Bengal and the prosperity of the great Bengali people."
The Prime Minister is actively campaigning for the BJP in the West Bengal assembly elections, the first phase of which was held on Thursday.
The second round of the elections will be held on April 29, and the counting of votes will be on May 4.
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Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha to quit AAP, join BJP
New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has announced that he would be quitting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and soon join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
His announcement, which was made before reporters on Friday, comes shortly after a clash with his party leaders who removed him the position of deputy leader in the Upper House of the Parliament.
Chadha, who addressed a press conference with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, added that two-thirds of AAP Rajya Sabha MPs had decided to join the BJP invoking constitutional provisions.
Chaddha said that the AAP, which he had nurtured with his ‘blood and sweat’ and had given 15 years of his youth to, had strayed from its founding principles.
Pathak and Mittal too told reporters that they would be quitting the AAP and move to the BJP.
