Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for the railway and road infrastructure projects $5,470 crore in Jalandhar at an official function, and later told a BJP meeting that the Center would continue to push development in Punjab even though his party was not in power in the state.
“Even though the BJP is not in power in Punjab, the Center has left no stone unturned to ensure the development of the state,” Modi said at the rally, according to news agency PTI. “Only the BJP can bring about real change in Punjab,” he added.
He claimed that the BJP, which has not come to power alone in the Sikh-majority state, will work to make Punjab developed and self-reliant: “New investments will come to Punjab, new jobs will be created in Punjab, products made in Punjab will reach every corner of the world – these tasks will be accomplished by the BJP alone.” Modi said, according to posts on the BJP’s official X handle.
Modi also launched attacks on the ruling Justice and Development Party and the main opposition Congress Party in Punjab. “Congress chair politics in Punjab never ends. They are not fighting for what benefits Punjab; rather their struggle is over who will retain the chair,” he said, apparently referring to the dispute between state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Waring and a camp led by former Prime Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
“Train of Faith” A dig at the Kejriwal-led AAP
Taking aim at the AAP government led by CM Bhagwant Mann and the party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Modi also criticized Kejriwal’s description of himself as a “katar immandar”.
“The party in government in Punjab today neither has a clear intention nor is it sincere. Its very identity is a ‘katar biman’ (severely dishonest) party,” he said.
He also raised the law and order situation in the state.
Focusing on railway development, the main theme of his official engagements in Punjab and Haryana on Friday, Modi also took aim at the previous Congress-led government at the Centre, saying it made false announcements about new trains and then “backed down” without following up.
Friday’s visit was his second to Jalandhar this year, after he visited Dera Sachand Palan, a prominent center for the Dalits who make up the Ravidasya sect, in February.
It is being read as political outreach ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, which the BJP is preparing to fight alone as its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal collapses during the farmers’ protest in 2020-21.
Modi arrived in Jalandhar after unveiling projects in Chandigarh and Jind in Haryana, where earlier in the day he launched India’s first hydrogen-powered train.
New railway stations and lines
In all, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated, virtually and mostly virtually, 75 redeveloped railway stations in 20 states under the Amrit Bharat Terminal Scheme. Four of them are in Punjab: Jalandhar Cantonment, Saas Nagar (Mohali), Sri Mukhtar Sahib, and Sri Anandpur Sahib.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the new Daulatpur Chowk-Kartoli railway line, which was built at a cost of approx $830 crore as part of the new Nangal Dam-Talwara-Mukerian railway line project. The line will enhance rail connectivity between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, benefiting Hoshiarpur and Una districts, and will improve access to religious destinations including Shri Anandpur Sahib Temple and Ma Chintpurni Temple, officials said.
Modi announced the Kartoli-Ambala train service, which officials said will improve connectivity across Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Saint Ravidas Express
The Sant Ravidas Express has also been discontinued, connecting Amritsar to Varanasi. Direct service has been a long-standing demand of the Ravidasia community in Punjab, ahead of Guru Ravidas’ celebrations of Parkash Purab’s 650th anniversary at his birthplace, Sir Govardhanpur, in Varanasi.
After arriving in Jalandhar, Modi was seen at Jalandhar Cantt railway station with Sachand Balan Dera chief Niranjan Das, who was recently awarded the Padma.
Pay the way
Besides railway projects, the Prime Minister inaugurated or laid the foundation stone for national highway projects worth more than that $3,070 crores.
He inaugurated the 30.9 km long ‘Package 6’ of the four-lane Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway. He laid the foundation stone for a 25.2 km long, six-lane green corridor in south Ludhiana.
