PM to sound poll bugle in Maharashtra

Days before the Election Commission announces the poll schedule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a whirlwind tour of Maharashtra on Sept.7.

Besides Mumbai, Modi is expected to visit Aurangabad and Nagpur.

During the day-long visit, Modi would perform 'bhoomi-pujan' or inaugurate infrastructure projects.

On Sept.1 and 2, Union Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah was in Maharashtra. In Solapur, he delivered the closing address at the Maha Janadesh Yatra undertaken by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Next day, he was in Mumbai and took darshans of Lord Ganesha at the Siddhivinayak temple and Lalbaug-cha-Raja.

In Mumbai, Modi will preside over the groundbreaking ceremony for three Metro lines –Metro 10 (Gaimukh-Shivaji Nagar), Metro-11 (Wadala-General Post office), Metro-12 (Kalyan-Taloja). He is also likely to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Metro Bhavan, the operational and control centre for all metro lines that will be constructed in Aarey. He will also unveil a mock train for Metro-2A (Dahisar -DN Nagar) and Metro-7 (Dahisar E-Andheri E) at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).

Thereafter, he will leave for Aurangabad and then Nagpur. There are chances that Pune may also be added to the schedule.

In Nagpur, he would perform the ground-breaking ceremony of a metro coach manufacturing facility located in Sindi dry port (Wardha). He will also lay the foundation stone for a broad gauge connecting Vidarbha's largest city with adjoining Wardha, Narkhed, Ramtek and Bhandara.

Both the projects are being undertaken by Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited, popularly known as Maha Metro, a 50:50 joint venture between the Centre and Maharashtra governments.

In Aurangabad, Modi will dedicate the first phase of ‘state-of-the-art’ Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC), which is being developed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), at Shendra MIDC.

His visit is politically significant as it comes days before the announcement of polls. Over the last couple of months, more than a dozen leaders of the NCP and Congress including sitting MLAs and those belonging to political families.