Ahead of UP Assembly polls, PM to lay foundation of Rs 400 cr project for anti-tank guided missiles

The PM will hand over indigenously developed defence platforms to the Army, Navy and Air Force

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) will observe “Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv” in Uttar Pradesh this week with the national security likely to be one of the major poll planks that the ruling saffron party will rely on ahead of the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.

The “Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv” will commence on Wednesday. It will conclude on Rani Lakshmibai’s birth anniversary on Friday, with the Prime Minister laying the foundation stone of a new Rs 400 crore facility that the Bharat Dynamics Limited will set up over 183 acres of land in Jhansi for manufacturing propulsion systems for the anti-tank guided missiles.

The Public Sector Undertaking is setting up the manufacturing plant as part of the UP Defence Industrial Corridor project of the Union Government.

The government will also use the event to highlight its endeavours to implement the Prime Minister’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” vision in the defence sector. The Prime Minister will formally hand over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari, the Light Combat Helicopters designed and developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited based in Bengaluru, the Ministry of Defence stated in New Delhi.

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Modi will hand over to the Indian Army chief Gen M M Naravane the drones developed by the start-ups in India. He will also formally hand over to the Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh advanced Electronic Warfare suits, manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited based in Bengaluru for the naval ships including the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the Chief Minister of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, will be present in the concluding ceremony of the “Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv”, which will mark the birth anniversary of Rani Lakshmibai – one of the icons of the 1857 rebellion against the British East India Company. The Prime Minister will also launch the Union Government’s programme for setting up 100 Sainik Schools throughout the country over the next two years in partnership with private educational institutions, NGOs and the state governments.

Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls in February-March next year, along with Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Punjab.

The ruling BJP is likely to rely much on its national security poll-plank, with its campaign highlighting the Modi government’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ doctrine to seek self-reliance in the defence sector.

The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and the four other states are being held at a time when the continuing military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control between India and China renewed the focus on defence capabilities of the nation. The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan also gave Pakistan a strategic edge against India. Pakistan also of late restarted flouting the ceasefire along its Line of Control (LoC) with India after a lull of a few months.

The Prime Minister will formally roll out a scheme to expand the National Cadet Corps to enrol one lakh more cadets in the border and coastal areas of the country. He will also launch the NCC Alumni Association, registering himself as to its first member, the MoD stated in New Delhi.

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