Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said poll-bound Madhya Pradesh has played a big role in making the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the world’s largest as he addressed workers of the party in Bhopal after flagging off five semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains connecting India’s key cities, the highest such launches in a day.
“We do not sit in air-conditioned offices and issue diktats. We brave harsh weather to be with people,” said Modi while calling the development of villages a must for India to become a developed country.
He referred to welfare schemes, which are believed to have played a key role in helping BJP return to power at the Centre in 2019, and said their objective is to ensure their saturation-level coverage. Modi hit out at “some people” who live only for their party as they get a share of corruption and commission. He added that the BJP has decided that it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank.
Modi earlier flagged off the Vande Bharat trains at Rani Kamalapati railway station in Bhopal including three virtually after interacting with students on board one of the trains. In a tweet on Monday, he said these trains will improve connectivity in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
Two of the trains—Rani Kamalapati (Bhopal)-Jabalpur, Khajuraho-Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat Express—are for Madhya Pradesh, where the assembly polls are due by the year-end.
The BJP seeks to retain power in Madhya Pradesh. Congress returned to power in the state in 2018 but lost it two years later when 22 legislators quit and resigned from the state assembly before joining the BJP.
The Rani Kamalapati-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express will connect Mahakaushal to Madhya Pradesh’s central region and improve connectivity to tourist places such as Bheraghat, Pachmarhi, and Satpura. The Khajuraho-Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat Express will connect Malwa and Bundelkhand regions to the state’s Central region and improve connectivity to tourist sites such as Mahakaleshwar, Mandu, Maheshwar, Khajuraho, and Panna.
The other trains inaugurated were Madgaon-Mumbai, Dharwad-Bengaluru, Goa’s first, and Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express.
The Madgaon (Goa)-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express will cut travel time by an hour. The Dharwad-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express will connect Karnataka’s Dharwad, Hubballi, and Davangere with the state capital Bengaluru.
The Hatia-Patna Vande Bharat Express is the first such train for Jharkhand and Bihar and will enhance connectivity between Patna and Ranchi.
