PM Modi inaugurates two expressways, says development is a joke for Congress

Accusing the Congress of misleading people, PM Modi said, “Be it the reservation or SC/ST Act they keep lying for their own benefit. The truth is that they neither believe in democracy nor the institutions working on the principles of Constitution.”

He said a new lie is being spread is about contract farming attracting 18 per cent Goods and Service Tax (GST). “I want to ask my farmer brothers not to pay any heed to such rumours.”

He listed the steps taken by his government for Dalits welfare. “We have made the law on atrocities on Dalits more stringent,” he said. “Special courts have been constituted for fast-track hearing of cases of Dalit atrocities.”

The government has constituted a commission for sub-categorisation of OBCs and promised to give reservation to most backward classes in educational institutions and government jobs in a time-bound manner, he said.

“The truth is that Congress and its allies either create obstacles or make fun of any work done for betterment of poor and Dalits,” he said. “For them development of the country is also a joke.”

Follow Narendra Modi in Bagpath Highlights

PM Narendra Modi with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the inauguration of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

Earlier on Sunday morning, the prime minister opened the first stretch of the 14-lane Delhi-Meerut Expressway. In Uttar Pradesh’s Bagpath, he inaugurated the much-awaited 135 km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), built at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore.

Adding that infrastructure does not differentiate on the basis caste, creed, religion and economic status, PM Modi said, “The Delhi Meerut Expressway and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway will channel the traffic not bound for Delhi. This will in turn help in reducing the pollution problems of the city.” Nitin Gadkari, Roads and Transport Minister, meanwhile, called it a “historic day.”

PM Modi also highlighted that the EPE is India’s first smart and green highway and has been completed in a record 500 days. The EPE will connect Kundli with Palwal via Sonepat, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad and is India’s first highway to be lit by solar power besides having provisions for rainwater harvesting every 500 metres on both sides.

The Delhi Meerut Expressway, meanwhile, will reduce the travel time from Delhi to Meerut to just 40 minutes, he added. It is the first national highway in the country to have 14 lanes which included a six-lane expressway and four service lanes each on both sides. The first phase of the project is from Nizamabad Bridge in Delhi to UP Border. The expressway will also include a dedicated bicycle track, vertical gardens with the solar power system and drip irrigation.

Read | Delhi-Meerut, Eastern Peripheral Expressways inauguration: All you need to know

PM Modi during his Roadshow on Sunday. (Express Photo by Renuka Puri)

Highlighting the projects taken up by the BJP in the past four years, PM Modi said, “Four years earlier only 12km highways used to be built in a day, but now we build approximately 27kms of highway each day. Highways, railways, airways have been the focus of the government.” He also said that apart from Rs 5 lakh crore provision for Bharatmala for highways, a provision of Rs 14 lakh crore was made in the budget to strengthen agriculture-related infrastructure. He also lauded Uttar Pradesh Chief minister Yogi Adityananth and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for maintaining law and order situation in both the states.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi also conducted a roadshow from the Nizamuddin Bridge and travelled 6 km in an open jeep, waving at crowds gathered on either side of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. Both the Delhi-Meerut Expressway and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway happen to be one of India’s most ambitious road network initiatives in recent times.

with PTI inputs