PM to visit Assam, Bengal on March 13-14; launch various development programmes
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he will visit Assam and West Bengal in the next two days and attend various programmes and inaugurate development initiatives which will present a wonderful opportunity to interact with the people of the two states.
Modi said the 22nd instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme would be released on Friday at a programme in Guwahati, which is "very special", besides presenting land rights to 3.5 lakh tea garden workers' families.
"I will be in Assam and West Bengal over the next two days to attend programmes in Kokrajhar, Guwahati, Silchar and Kolkata. These programmes will present a wonderful opportunity to interact with the people of these states. Various development works will also be inaugurated," he said in a series of posts on X.
The prime minister said that in addition to this, various works like the Kopili Hydro-Electric Project, Capacity Enhancement Project of NSPL will be inaugurated.
He said the foundation stone for the Furkating-Tinsukia rail line doubling project, cruise terminals at Bishwanath Ghat in Biswanath district and Neamati in Jorhat district will also be laid.
"These, along with the other works, will add momentum to Assam's progress. I look forward to being in Kokrajhar, a place associated with the great Bodo culture," he said.
Modi said the foundation stones would be laid for important road connectivity projects, including Assam Mala 3.0 which would significantly improve inter-state connectivity. Three new train services, namely the Kamakhya-Charlapalli Amrit Bharat Express, Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Express and Narangi-Agartala Express will be flagged off, he said.
"A historic step towards justice and dignity. I compliment the NDA Government in Assam for this. We are proud of the hard work of the tea garden families and will always work to further their well-being," he said on conferment of land rights to tea garden workers.
Prime Minister Modi will visit West Bengal on Saturday, during which he will inaugurate and lay foundation stones of multiple development projects worth around Rs 18,680 crore in Kolkata.
Both Assam and West Bengal will face assembly elections in the next couple of months.
An official statement said that these initiatives "reflect the central government's continued commitment to strengthening infrastructure, enhancing connectivity and accelerating economic growth in West Bengal and eastern India".
According to the statement, the prime minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for several national highway projects with a combined length of more than 420 km, worth around Rs 16,990 crore, which would give a major boost to road infrastructure in the region.
The projects being inaugurated include sections of NH-19 in West Bengal and Jharkhand and of NH-114 in West Bengal.
These projects are expected to enhance road safety, reduce travel time, ease congestion and pollution, improve regional connectivity, and promote tourism and boost economic growth in the region, the statement said.
Modi will lay the foundation stone for several new national highway projects.
The project forms part of the economic corridor between Kharagpur and Siliguri and will pass through Paschim Medinipur, Birbhum, Bankura, Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly, and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal.
Direct Kharagpur-Morgram connectivity will reduce travel distance by around 120 km and save nearly seven to eight hours of travel time. The corridor will also integrate with key national highways, including NH-16, NH-19, NH-14 and NH-12, thereby strengthening multi-corridor connectivity.
During the visit, the prime minister will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for several shipping and port-related projects. He will inaugurate the mechanisation project of Berth number two at Haldia Dock Complex, which will enable efficient, faster and environment-friendly cargo handling.
The project will enhance cargo handling capacity, facilitate efficient full-rake rail loading systems, improve key performance indicators, increase safety by reducing human exposure to hazardous operations, and generate employment.
Modi will also inaugurate the rejuvenation project at the Khidderpore Docks in Kolkata.
The other projects include renovation of the Bascule Bridge at Kolkata Dock System; yard development, including drainage systems, at Kidderpore Dock-I (East) and Dock-II (East); bank protection works along the Kolkata riverfront from the Howrah Bridge pylon to Nimtala Ghat, among others.
In the railways sector, the prime minister will flag off the Purulia-Anand Vihar Terminal (Delhi) Express, strengthening rail connectivity among West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and the National Capital Region.
During the visit, Modi will also inaugurate six redeveloped railway stations -- Kamakhyaguri, Anara, Tamluk, Haldia, Barabhum and Siuri -- under the Amrit Station Scheme.
He will also dedicate to the nation two railway projects -- the 16-km-long third rail line between Belda and Dantan, and the automatic block signalling system between Kalaikunda and Kanimohuli.
These projects will improve train safety and punctuality, reduce congestion and enhance the overall ease of travel for passengers in the region.
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Post poll TN alliances divided in supporting TVK
Chennai (PTI): In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation.
Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government.
Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split.
Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary.
On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated that AIADMK would not support TVK in forming the government.
The AIADMK, which finished third in the elections with 47 seats has cancelled its meeting of MLAs designate on Wednesday amidst a difference in extending external support to the TVK, which won 108 seats, including two seats by its founder Vijay.
As Vijay is gearing up for his swearing-in on May 7, the police have tightened security at his residence here. The party has lodged its MLA-elect at a resort in Mamallapuram and has simultaneously engaged in talks with the Congress and AIADMK, a source said.
The DMK that won 59 seats on its own, has convened a meeting of its newly elected legislators on May 7 evening and the party is likely to elect the youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni as its legislature party leader.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal admitted that TVK chief Vijay requested the Congress for support to form the government.
"The INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government, committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit. The INC is determined not to allow the BJP and its proxies to run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner. Thiru Vijay has also spoken about drawing inspiration from Perunthalaivar Kamaraj," he said.
Accordingly, the Congress leadership has directed the TNCC to take a final decision on Vijay’s request, keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict, Venugopal said in a statement.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai slammed the Congress decision and said the move to ally with TVK, pledging the support of its five MLAs to the party, was tantamount to "backstabbing the DMK and the people of Tamil Nadu."
"They have betrayed the mandate given by the people. Even before the ink on the returning officer’s signature on the victory certificate has dried, they have chosen to go ahead with this alliance," he told PTI.
The most important question was who took this "foolhardy decision, and how is it going to backfire on the Congress?" he asked.
"I don’t think they had any serious deliberation on this. The larger issue is their opposition to the BJP, which is their ideological enemy. We have supported the Congress throughout. It was our leader M K Stalin, who named Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate when the BJP and RSS were criticising him. And now, within a day, they say they are supporting TVK. This is not the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Saravanan said.
The Congress' exit from its long-standing alliance with the DMK will be a significant moment in the political scenario of the state, commentator and political analyst Sumanth Raman said.
The Congress may be betting on the TVK as a long-term partner option, but that comes with risks, as the TVK is as yet an unknown quantity, he said.
"For the DMK, if the TVK+Congress becomes the choice of the minorities as it well could, it is an existential threat. It was the minority vote that gave the DMK alliance a 12%-15% cushion in the polls. If that goes, their chances of winning drops dramatically," Raman said on 'X.'
The Congress won 5 seats. However, DMK's other allies, the IUML, VCK, CPI and CPI (M) and DMDK have categorically stated that they would not support TVK.
As of now, the TVK requires the support of 11 MLAs to attain a simple majority of 118 to form the government.
The PMK, which won 4 seats and AMMK one - both allies of AIADMK - have not announced their decision yet.
"AIADMK’s real post-result drama may not be outside the party, but inside it. Whispers from the west and north suggest that a Coimbatore hand and a Villupuram voice may soon ask the question everyone is avoiding: Is it time to save the party from the leadership, before the cadre are forced to do it themselves? In politics, coups don’t begin with slogans. They begin with silence, phone calls and “review meetings,” Aspire Swaminathan, who is credited with founding the AIADMK IT wing in 2014, said on 'X.'
He has resigned from the AIADMK in 2021 and now acts an as independent political analyst.
