Begusarai (Bihar): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said there was “fire” in his heart over the suicide bombing of a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district in which 40 troopers were martyred.
“Jo aag aapke dil mein hai, wahi aag mere dial mein bhi hai” (I feel the same fire im my heart that is burning inside you), Modi said at a huge public meeting after laying foundation stones and dedicating to the nation various schemes worth over Rs 33,000 crore.
Modi also opened the city’s gas distribution at Patna and the Patna River Front Development’s first phase.
The Prime Minister then launched the expansion work of Barauni’s oil refinery which would be increased to 9 million tonnes and other projects estimated to cost Rs 33,000 crore.
The Patna Metro Rail project will cost about Rs 13,365.77 crore. It comprises two corridors of a total length 31.39 km.
In the first phase, a 33.1-km-long track having two corridors — east-west and north-south — will come up in Patna.
The west-east corridor would run between Danapur and Patna railway station via Dakbungalow Square while the south-north corridor would run between the Inter-State Bus Terminal and Gandhi Maidan via Rajendra Nagar and Ashok Rajpath.
The project is expected to be completed in five years from the date of commencement.
The inauguration was done through video conference.
On this occasion, prime minister also paid his tributes to two of the CRPF troopers who died in Pulwama on February 14 who hailed from Bihar: Sanjay Kumar Sinha (Patna) and Ratan Kumar Thakur (Bhagalpur).
He said they had sacrificed their lives for the country. “I express my sympathies with their families.”
Modi made no mention about Pakistan and its alleged involvement in the worst terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in the state in 1989.
In his over half hour speech, he mainly focused on development.
He said the NDA government’s vision of development runs on two parallel lines, one being infrastructure development and the other is to uplift those sections of the society who have been struggling to avail even basic amenities for over 70 years.
He reminded people that decisions regarding fast economic development and implementation of the projects on the ground were possible in the last four-and-a-half years due to “a strong government” at the Centre.
Modi thanked the people for electing such “a strong government” in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Earlier, Modi flew into Patna and was welcomed by Governor Lalji Tandon and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. All of them then took a helicopter to Begusarai, 130 km from Patna.