Young and salaried class thank their MP Modi for giving Varanasi a facelift

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Young and salaried class thank their MP Modi for giving Varanasi a facelift

Only last November, Modi inaugurated two important roads here, worth Rs15.8 billion (Dh826m) and 34km long overall.

By Abhishek Sengupta (Reporting from Varanasi)

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Published: Sat 18 May 2019, 9:47 PM

Last updated: Sat 18 May 2019, 11:50 PM

A boost in infrastructure, lack of power cuts and a general facelift. These are the three main reasons why the young, salaried, upwardly mobile and moderately affluent people of Varanasi - said to be one of the world's longest continuously inhabited city and a major religious hub in India - are going to thank PM Narendra Modi for, with votes on Sunday, as the grand election comes to a close.
"Modiji must be rewarded for the work he has done so far. It's visible," said Visha Chaturvedi, a Varanasi resident, while particularly referring to the renovation of the Manduadih railway station, the city's alternate terminal that serves as the final destination as well as origin of several passenger and express trains in and out of Varanasi, including the Janshatabdi and Shiv Ganga Express. "If you asked someone about how it looked a couple of years ago, you will know the difference," added the 23-year-old who lives and works in Patna as a radio jockey but took a train back to her city on Friday to cast her vote over the weekend. "He has definitely give Varanasi one huge makeover and I am sure it will be even grander when he returns for the second time as the MP from this city."
"The drive to and from the airport has now really transformed. Earlier the conditions of the roads were really terrible but that's not the case anymore. You just need to take a drive to the airport and find it out for yourself," said Ashutosh Tripathi, a medical practitioner, who also returned on Friday to Varanasi to vote for Modi with the same mandate.
"I really want my city to be beautiful with good roads and proper infrastructure and I know Modiji will pay more attention to it after he is re-elected for the second time," said Ramesh Singh, a marketing executive, who hoped that Modi will continue to work for Varanasi under pressure of the electorate's expectations.
Only last November, Modi inaugurated two important roads here, worth Rs15.8 billion (Dh826m) and 34km long overall - including the 16.55-km-long Varanasi Ring Road Phase-I built at a cost of Rs7.6 billion (Dh400m). He also inaugurated the four-lane Babatput-Varanasi road on NH-56 that cost Rs8.1 billion and is expected to connect the city with the airport and go on to link other cities like Jaunpur, Sultanpur and Lucknow. "This project means a lot for frequent travellers like us. It has reduced the travel time from Varanasi to the airport, providing a big relief to the people of the city and tourists," said Sanjay Singh who is the zonal sales manager at a multi-national company (MNC) and frequently flies in and out of the Hindu holy city.
"And that's not all. There's been a massive infrastructure overhaul. Underground cables have been laid. The power distribution system has changed and so we have no more power cuts today as opposed to regular blackouts for few hours (sometimes up to even eight hours) every day until a couple of years ago," Singh told Khaleej Times.
Others felt that the city's overall 'mentality' has changed for the better thanks to a PM as a local MP with a focus on cleanliness thanks to his Swachh Bharat (clean India) campaign. "Even the Clean Ganga Project has taken off and we hope we will soon start reaping its rewards," said Amrtutansh Sharma, a city-based businessman who even claimed that Modi has done much more "in his five years for Varanasi than Rahul Gandhi did for so many years in Amethi or Sonia Gandhi in Raebareli."
"And what's the best thing about voting for Modiji is that we vote directly for our prime minister. It's a matter of great privilege," said a long-time resident of Varanasi in his eighties.
abhishek@khaleejtimes.com


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