Uttar Pradesh: PM Modi likely to visit Kushinagar, Varanasi this month

LUCKNOW: With assembly elections just a few months away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shifted his focus on the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
After visiting Lucknow to attend ‘Azadi@75 — New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape’ conference-cum-expo on October 5, the PM is likely to pay two more visits to the state this month.
While the PM will visit Kushinagar on October 20 to inaugurate an international airport, he may also visit his parliamentary constituency, Varanasi, on October 25.
Sources in the government said the PM’s programme was being chalked out, adding that the schedule for the first visit was almost final.
According to officials, the Kushinagar international airport would give a boost to tourism, especially Buddhist tourism, as Kushinagar is the place where Lord Buddha breathed his last. Several Buddhist temples and guest houses have been built around the main temple, also known as Mahaparinirvaan Sthal.
The first flight to the international airport is likely to arrive from Sri Lanka, which has a huge population of Buddhists.
The first flight is likely to carry the President of Sri Lanka, other delegates and Buddhist pilgrims, a senior government official said.
During his Kushinagar visit, the PM is likely to lay the foundation stone of a medical college.
On October 25, the PM is likely to launch an all-India scheme related to health infrastructure from Varanasi. The details of the programmes were still being finalised.
Sources said the PM’s focus on the state would continue even after October as several projects would be ready for inauguration or foundation laying. Some of these projects include Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway and several medical colleges.
Besides the PM, Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders are also likely to visit the state before the notification for the assembly elections is issued, sources added.