Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the valedictory function of the Sai Baba Samadhi centenary celebrations in Shirdi on October 19, authorities of the Sai Temple Trust said on Wednesday.
Mr. Modi will hand over the keys of houses to 40,000 beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and attend the e-griha pravesh ceremony.
Dr. Suresh Haware, chairman of Sai Temple Trust, said, “The events will be held at the hands of the PM at 11 a.m. on Friday at the State Agriculture Corporation grounds.”
Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao will chair the function, which will be attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis.
“A number of ground breaking ceremonies have been organised for various projects initiated by the Trust such as the Sai Darshan Q Building and the Sai Knowledge Park among others. The Sai Darshan building project will have 12 halls designed to accommodate more than 18,000 devotees,” said Dr. Haware.
The trust celebrated the centenary year of Saint Sai Baba’s Mahasamadhi from October 1, 2017 to October 18, 2018.
On Tuesday, Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde had lashed out at Mr. Modi’s Shirdi visit, alleging that the State government was wasting ₹2 crore to bring in beneficiaries for the October 19 function.
“None of the government schemes are reaching the target group. So now, they are falsely promoting these schemes as elections are near,” said Mr. Munde.
