PM to Launch Projects Worth Rs 6,800 Cr, Address Rallies in Poll-bound Meghalaya, Tripura Today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit poll-bound Meghalaya and Tripura on Sunday to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 6,800 crore. The northeastern hill states are heading for assembly elections, which are likely to be held in February 2023.

The BJP, which is the ruling party in Tripura, is working hard to strengthen its party cadre in Meghalaya as well. The National People’s Party, an NDA ally, formed the government in Meghalaya in 2018 with Conrad Sangma as the chief minister.

The prime minister has a busy schedule going into the northeast, where he will also be taking part in the golden jubilee celebrations of the North East Council (NEC) besides chairing meetings and addressing rallies. The prime minister’s office (PMO) said in a statement that the projects encompass a wide array of sectors, including housing, road, agriculture, telecom, information technology, tourism and hospitality.

Here’s all you need to know about Prime Minister Modi’s northeastern tour to Tripura and Meghalaya:

1. PM Modi will arrive at Meghalaya capital Shillong at 9.30 am on Sunday and will begin his tour by inaugurating a campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Umsawli.
2. The PM will then chair a meeting of the NEC at the state convention hall, following a programme arranged to mark the council’s golden jubilee. Members of the NEC, including union home minister Amit Shah, other central ministers and lawmakers of the northeast, are also scheduled to attend the programme.
3. According to a report published by news agency PTI, Modi will release a commemorative journal chronicling the NEC’s contribution towards the development of the northeastern region over the past 50 years.
4. Officials from the two NE states said the prime minister will then address a public meeting at the Polo Grounds, where close to 10,000 people are expected to gather. The venue has been declared a “no-drone flying zone”, while security has been tightened.
5. The PMO said Modi will also inaugurate a spawn laboratory at the Mushroom Development Centre and an integrated beekeeping development centre in Meghalaya, besides 21 Hindi libraries in Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Assam.
6. Modi is expected to land at Maharaja Bir Bikram airport in Tripura capital Agartala at 2.25 pm. He is scheduled to lay foundation stones for a series of initiatives and inaugurate multiple projects besides interacting with the beneficiaries of central and state government schemes.
7. He will then leave for Vivekananda Ground to address a rally, West Tripura district magistrate Debapriya Bardhan told PTI. Special trains and buses have been arranged to ferry people from all over the state to the rally. Beneficiaries of different government schemes will also be brought to the public meeting, the DM said. “We are expecting 72,000 beneficiaries… The entire ground will be under CCTV surveillance,” he added. West Tripura superintendent of police Sankar Debnath said the BSF has also been put on alert for the PM’s visit. “The BSF and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) are jointly patrolling the border areas,” Debnath added.
8. After the rally, Modi will head to the state guest house around 4 pm, where he will chair separate meetings of state ministers and the BJP’s core committee with an eye on the elections, sources in the BJP said. He is scheduled to leave the state in the evening.
9. In Tripura, Modi will launch projects worth over Rs 4,350 crores, the PMO said. In Agartala, he will launch ‘Grih Pravesh’ programme for over two lakh beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – urban and rural – schemes. The PMO noted that Modi has focussed on ensuring that everyone has a house of their own. The houses have been developed at a cost of over Rs 3,400 crore.
10. The PM will inaugurate a project for widening the Agartala bypass (Khayerpur-Amtali) NH8, which will help ease traffic congestion in Agartala city. Focusing on road connectivity, he will also lay the foundation stone for 32 roads of more than 230 km under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and for improvement of 112 roads covering a distance of over 540 km. He will also inaugurate the State Institute of Hotel Management at Anandnagar and Agartala Government Dental College.

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