Lok Sabha poll campaign begins: PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi to address rallies today

rahul gandhi narendra modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi are set to begin their Lok Sabha election campaign on January 9 with events in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, respectively.

PM Modi is scheduled to inaugurate a stretch of National Highway 211 in Solapur, Maharashtra. The 58-km, four-lane Solapur-Tuljapur-Osmanabad section of the highway is aimed at improving connectivity between Solapur and Marathwada. The section is part of a larger Solapur-Yedashi project of 98.7 km.

According to the Road and Highways Ministry, the NH section has road safety features like two major and 17 minor bridges, four vehicular and 10 pedestrian underpasses, besides one 3.4 km bypass at Tuljapur that is expected to help decongest the town.

PM Modi had laid the foundation stone for the project in 2014.

He is also expected to kick-start the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Lok Sabha elections campaign in Uttar Pradesh with a public meeting in Agra later in the day. Party leaders told PTI that around two lakh people are expected to attend the rally.

The Prime Minister is also expected to inaugurate multiple projects in Agra.

In Agra, the foundation stones for the following projects will be laid:

Integrated Command and Control Centre for Agra Smart City.

Upgradation of SN Medical College, Agra.

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Various other development projects.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 8, 2019

Gandhi to address kisan rally, highlight farm loan waiverGandhi, on the other hand, is scheduled to address a farmers’ rally in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The Congress President is expected to focus on promises fulfilled by him and the party, including the farm loan waiver.

This would be Gandhi’s first major public interaction in Rajasthan since the Congress won the assembly election in December 2018.

Banking on its assembly polls performance, Congress is hoping to win significant number of seats in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. In the 2014 general elections, Congress had failed to win a single seat out of the state’s 25.

Gandhi is expected to make his maiden visit to the United Arab Emirates on January 11-12. He is expected to interact with Indian workers and professionals living in the Gulf nation, besides attending the ‘Indo-Arab cultural programme’.