First PM to visit Mandya in 27 years, Modi stresses double-engine benefits

MANDYA/HUBBALLI: Vokkaliga-dominated Mandya turned a sea of saffron on Sunday as people from the district turned up to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a flying trip to the state to inaugurate the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, launch a slew of other projects and hold a roadshow.
Modi is the first PM in 27 years to visit Karnataka’s ‘Sugar Bowl’, and his visit comes ahead of assembly elections in which BJP is desperately trying to make inroads in the district which traditionally votes JD(S) or Congress. In the last elections, JD(S) scooped up all seven seats in the district.
As people showered petals of mostly marigold on him during the 2km roadshow, Modi waved and thanked them for their love and affection.
However, up to an hour before the extravaganza, the streets were not exactly teeming with people. BJP functionaries attributed it to stiff police restrictions.
Modi arrived at Mysuru airport by special flight and flew by helicopter to PES stadium in Mandya. A cavalcade then took him on the roadshow.
Groups of folk artistesperformed on either side of the route while scores of youths, women and children chanted his name and shot videos and clicked photos on their mobile phones. Some Jan Shakti Party workers, who wanted the Centre to reduce prices of essential commodities, were prevented from meeting the PM. They were briefly detained while a youth wearing a black T-shirt was also turned away by police.
Ahead of the roadshow, banners of Urigowdaru and Dodda Nanjegowdaru, two fictious characters, at Factory Circle in Mandya were replaced. In ‘Tippu Nijakanasugalu’, a play penned by Rangayana director Addanda Cariappa, Urigowdaru and Nanjegowdaru are characters that kill the erstwhile Mysuru ruler.
Later, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai took a digat Congress and JD(S) for claiming credit for the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway project and asserted that Modi had cleared and funded the project and ensured that it was completed.
“The project took shape after 2014,” Bommai said. “It was Modi who was PM then. The work started after 2019 and the project is being inaugurated now,” he said. He said the Centre had released an additional Rs 4,000 crore to complete the Rs 8,800 crore project.
Union highways minister Nitin Gadkari, who was present, said the expressway will boost economic activity in the entire region. He also said that Bengaluru-Chennai expressway will be completed by December this year, while Bengaluru Ring Road will be completed by March 2024.
In Hubballi, Modi said several projects for which the previous Congress government had laid foundation stones are languishing. “We laid foundation stones and ensured projects were completed and dedicated to the nation within a timeframe,” Modi said.
He said states where BJP is at the helm have accelerated development as the doubleengine mechanism has boosted their efforts. “Karnataka is among them,” he said.