Posters showing Jyotiraditya Scindia with PM Modi, Amit Shah come up in Bhind
Bhopal: Posters featuring Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia alongwith Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah were seen in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district during Scindia's visit there.
Hradesh Sharma, who claimed to be an active BJP worker, said he put up the posters as he wanted to thank Scindia for supporting the Modi government's decision to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Scindia has been reportedly sulking after losing to Kamal Nath in the race for chief minister's post after the last year's Assembly polls. After he backed scrapping of Article 370, there was speculation that he might join the BJP.
When Scindia visited Bhind on Thursday, the posters put up by Sharma, former district BJP spokesperson, greeted him.
"As it was Scindia's first visit to the district after he backed the annulling of Article 370 going against his party's stand, I welcomed him by putting up posters," Sharma said.
"We will respect any leader for standing up for the national cause," he added. "Scindia would not join the BJP at any cost," state Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said when contacted.
"Nothing should be read into these posters," said Chaturvedi, known to be a Scindia loyalist.
Three days ago, when asked about senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid's statement about leadership "vacuum" in the party, Scindia had said "the Congress needs introspection". "The party's situation should be assessed and improved, this is the need of the hour," he had said.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
