Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Jammu on February 3 for laying foundation stone of multiple projects, some of which have been declared as national projects while Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate prestigious Keeriyan-Gandial bridge in Kathua district on January 22.
Date of the Prime Minister’s visit to Jammu was finalized today in New Delhi, official sources told the Excelsior.
However, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) will decide within a couple of days whether Modi will visit all three regions of the State during his visit or lay foundation stone of all the projects from Jammu.
“A decision on this will be taken shortly as the projects of which the Prime Minister will lay foundation, belonged to all three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” sources said.
During his last visit to the State on May 19, Modi had visited all three regions for inauguration of projections and laying foundation stone of others.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Jammu, is likely to lay foundation of a host of projects for all three regions of the State including Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, some of which have been declared as national projects.
Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh will accompany both Modi and Gadkari during their visits to the State.
Modi was likely to lay foundation stones for All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for Jammu and Awantipora simultaneously, Jammu-Akhnoor-Rajouri-Poonch National Highway, Shahpur Kandi and Ujh projects, both of which have been declared as national projects, Sudh Mahadev-Pul Doda National Highway, Ladakh University, Devika Rejuvenation Plan, Indri Pattan-Pargwal bridge etc.
“If the Prime Minister decided to visit all three regions, the foundation stone of Ladakh University will be laid in Leh and that of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Awantipora in Srinagar. Otherwise, foundation stone of all projects will be laid at Vijaypur, the venue of AIIMS Jammu as well as the Prime Minister’s rally, through e-mode” sources said.
“Formalities for laying foundation of all these projects, which the BJP believed will be game changer for them in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, have been completed,” sources said, adding that majority of these projects will be executed through the Central funding with some of them having got funds under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP).
Majority of these projects were kept pending during the PDP-BJP coalition Government and it was only after imposition of Governor’s Rule in the State that work for laying foundation of these projects was taken to its logical conclusion. Decks were now fully cleared for laying foundation of these projects by the Prime Minister.
Only a day before, the Union Cabinet had also given approval to the two AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources said after e-foundation laying of all these projects from the site proposed for construction of AIIMS and other schemes of national importance countrywide, the Prime Minister is also scheduled to address a public meeting at Vijaypur for which all arrangements were being made by the State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Sources said the Prime Minister’s rally will also set the stage for BJP’s election campaign for Lok Sabha and Assembly also, if both the elections are held simultaneously. However, the Election Commission of India was yet to take a call on whether to hold Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir with Lok Sabha polls or defer them.
Meanwhile, sources said, Union Minister for Surface Transport, Nitin Gadkari will visit Kathua district of Jammu region on January 22 for inauguration of prestigious Keeriyan-Gandial bridge in Kathua district.
Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh, who is Lok Sabha member from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda constituency, will accompany Gadkari during inauguration of the bridge.
Significantly, foundation stone of Keeriyan-Gandiyal bridge had also been laid by Gadkari and Dr Jitendra Singh on June 26, 2015.
The Keeriyan-Gandiyal is first inter-State bridge, which has been constructed at a cost of Rs 160 crore. Construction of the bridge will meet 70 years old demand of the local people.
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