Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday laid the foundation for the new terminal building and expansion of the Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Airport in Gwalior city and accused the erstwhile Congress government of stalling welfare schemes in Madhya Pradesh.
He appealed to people to re-elect Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh, going to polls in November of next year. "Madhya Pradesh had experienced Congress rule once.
Now the elections are on the anvil again. Don't repeat the mistake. Believe in Modi ji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and vote for BJP," Shah said after laying the foundation for the Rs 446-crore expansion of the airport and launching a Rs 4,300-crore project under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Shah alleged the previous Kamal Nath-led Congress government, which remained in power for 15 months till March 2020, stalled welfare projects including the PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission, which were meant for the poor.
But after becoming chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan expedited these projects to compensate for the loss that occurred during the Congress regime, he said.
Shah said former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh his "karmsthali" (land of work) and gave the message that how a BJP government can be, despite his being the prime minister of a coalition.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and CM Chouhan were present on the occasion. He praised Scindia for meticulously planning the new terminal of the airport and said it will be one of the best in the country.
Infrastructure development has taken place on a very large scale in the country under the leadership of PM Modi."Under the previous UPA government, 12 kilometres of national highways used to be built per day, while the figure now was 37 kilometres. The construction of the 375 kilometres of railway tracks per year has now gone up to 1,458 kilometres," Shah said.
While mentioning the recently-held programme in Ujjain where PM Modi dedicated to the nation the grand 'Mahakal Lok' corridor, Shah accused the previous Congress government of ignoring the cultural heritage of the country and said it did nothing to develop pilgrimage centres like Kedarnath, Badrinath, Ujjain and Kashi.
The prime minister has created such an atmosphere by keeping away the politics of appeasement that people will visit such places for centuries, Shah asserted. He hailed the PM for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and scrapping of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
A cargo terminal and four aerobridges will be constructed in the airport, which will also showcase the heritage of the Gwalior-Chambal region, said Scindia, the grandson of the late Rajmata Vijayaraje, a key BJP leader and one of the highest royal figures of Gwalior.
The new terminal building will have an area of 20,000 sq metres as compared to the existing 3,500 sq m, the official said. After the expansion, the airport will have the capacity to park 13 planes as against the existing capacity for three aircraft, the official said. Shah later inaugurated 'Gatha Swaraj ki-Maratha Gallery' gallery at Scindias' Jai Vilas Palace in the city.
(With PTI Inputs)
