The split in Congress and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh floating his new party, Punjab Lok Congress has been a major development. PM Modi will visit Ferozepur on Wednesday and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over Rs 42,750 crore.
New Delhi: At the beginning of circa 2022, Punjab politics is at a crossroads. Here lies the essential significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the crucial northern India border state that will go to the polls within the next few weeks.
Unlike in the past and elsewhere, PM Modi's visit to Ferozepur on Wednesday, January 5, is more than the normal routine political and developmental work-related exercise. It will be a path-finder in itself, as things have been quite different for Punjab politics in the last few months. The repeal of three contentious farm laws only shows the importance of the state, its farmers and other stakeholders.
In the words of former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, the Prime Minister has always been personally concerned about Punjab and the Punjabis.
On Wednesday, the prime minister will visit Ferozepur and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over Rs 42,750 crore. PM Modi had last visited Punjab on November 9, 2019, to inaugurate the Kartarpur Corridor.
The split in Congress and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh floating his new party, Punjab Lok Congress, has been a major development. The new outfit has also agreed to an alliance with the BJP. Thus, Punjab is set for an exciting four-cornered contest this time between BJP-Lok Congress alliance, Akali Dal, AAP and the state's ruling party Congress. Just hours before the prime minister's visit, former chief minister Amarinder Singh said BJP is the only party that can take care of Punjab's security and economic challenges.
The Prime Minister's projects to be launched and inaugurated on Wednesday include the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway; four laning of Amritsar – Una section; Mukerian – Talwara New Broad Gauge railway line; PGI Satellite Centre at Ferozepur, and two new medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur.
The PMO has stated that the consistent endeavour of the Prime Minister has resulted in more than doubling the total length of National Highways in the state from about 1700 kilometres in 2014 to over 4100 kilometres in 2021.
