Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on Friday, his first visit after assuming charge. During the visit, he is likely to firm up plans for its development.
Preparations are in full swing and tight security is in place in the ancient temple town where Modi is expected to lay the foundation stone of a trade facilitation centre for weavers and also adopt a village under his “Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana” (MPs’ model village scheme).
UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will be here to welcome the Prime Minister. Union Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar will also be present, Additional District Magistrate (protocol) OP Chaubey said.
According to Inspector General of Police (Public Grievances) Ashok Jain, 12 SP rank police officials of Uttar Pradesh, 18 Additional SPs, 20 Deputy SPs, 135 sub—inspectors, besides more than 1000 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary have been deployed.
The Special Protection Group which is responsible for the Prime Minister’s security would be assisted by officials and personnel of the Uttar Pradesh police.
The Prime Minister’s visit, which is likely to last a little over 24 hours, has sent soaring the hope of a better future among residents of the holy town, which has been facing crumbling infrastructure and lack of basic amenities.
Among the oldest cities in the world, Varanasi has been constantly in the spotlight ever since Modi chose to retain the constituency he had won by a huge margin of 3.7 lakh votes, vacating Vadodara in his home state of Gujarat where his victory (by 5.7 lakh votes) was even bigger.
Soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party won the Lok Sabha elections in May, Modi had visited the city and offered prayers at Kashi Vishwanath Mandir and taken part in Ganga Aarti.
During his tour, the Prime Minister is likely to lay the foundation stone of a trade facilitation centre and a crafts museum, announcement for which was made in the first general budget presented by his government in June this year.
The project is aimed at the uplift of the weavers, whose plight had been repeatedly highlighted in election speeches by Modi who had vowed to take steps for their betterment.
He will also inaugurate a powerloom centre.
