PM gifts Rs 38,000-cr projects to Mumbai;Shinde, Fadnavis target Uddhav govt

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated and laid foundation stones of development projects worth more than Rs 38,000 crore in different sectors in Mumbai, giving a big push to infrastructure, urban travel and healthcare ahead of civic polls, where the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena will seek to showcase these ventures to take on the political rivals. This was Modi’s first visit to Mumbai after Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took office in June-end las year after dislodging the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
At the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of development projects at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), both Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis targeted the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction and the MVA government.Civic elections in Mumbai and some other important cities, including Pune, Thane and Nagpur, are likely to be held later this year. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena are looking to wrest control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from the Thackeray-headed camp.
At a function held at the MMRDA ground in BKC, Modi inaugurated and laid foundation stones of a string of projects worth more than Rs 38,000 crore aimed at developing infrastructure, easing urban travel, and strengthening healthcare in the financial capital. He laid foundation stones for seven sewage treatment plants, a road concretisation project and redevelopment of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.The PM inaugurated Mumbai Metro Rail Lines 2A and 7 built at a cost of around Rs 12,600 crore. They comprise a 35km-long elevated corridor stretching from Andheri to Dahisar in suburban Mumbai. Modi also inaugurated 20 ‘Aapla Davakhana’ (health clinics) named after Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Earlier in his speech, deputy chief minister Fadnavis said in the 2019 Assembly polls, Modi had urged people to vote for a ‘double engine sarkar’ (BJP in power in state and the Centre) in Maharashtra.