PM Modi to visit Bihar on Sep 15 to launch projects worth ₹36,000 crore

Months ahead of assembly elections in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Purnea district on Monday to address a rally and launch development projects worth Rs 36,000 crore.

The PM will also inaugurate a newly developed airport terminal at the north Bihar town, which would fulfil the region's long-standing demand for air connectivity.

Another key highlight is the scheduled inauguration of the National Makhana Board, the setting up of which was announced in the Union budget earlier this year.

Hailed as a "super food" by the PM in many of his speeches, makhana, or Indian foxnuts, are cultivated in abundance in Bihar, which accounts for close to 90 per cent of the production in the country.

The BJP-led NDA, which hopes to retain power in the state, believes that the PM has been giving top priority to Bihar.

"In his 11 years of tenure, Modi has gifted Bihar development projects worth about Rs 1.50 lakh-crore. Tomorrow, there will be another bonanza. The state is enjoying the fruits of having a double-engine government", said senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who recently visited Purnea to review preparations for the PM's tour.

Elaborate security measures are in place in the district, where plying of vehicles on national and state highways will also remain suspended for 24 hours, beginning midnight Sunday.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, conducted a "surprise inspection" of the government medical college and hospital (GMCH) at Purnea.

Sharing a nearly eight-minute video shot late Saturday, Yadav said, "I visited the premises on a day when Union Health Minister JP Nadda was in Bihar. The situation, in the 11th year of Modi government, is self-explanatory".

The former deputy CM, who held the Health portfolio during his short stint in power, can be seen chatting with patients and hospital staff in the video clip he has shared on his X handle.

"The new building here must have cost hundreds of crores. Yet, it does not have an ICU and a trauma centre. There is no fully qualified cardiologist. Many patients, including small children, are being forced to lie down in the open, vulnerable to infections like dengue, since construction work is still on", lamented the RJD leader.

He added that "even the so-called functional wards lack basic facilities like separate toilets for men and women. Patients are making do with bedsheets which are dirty or bring these from their homes".

Taking aim at both the Centre and the state government, Yadav remarked, "I would urge the PM that after having his fill of tirade against jungle raj (RJD rule), he visit the GMCH. The stark failures of the double-engine government will stare him in the face. He must also bring along Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who loves to brag that after he took over in 2005, all has been good.