Modi inaugurated development projects worth billions of rupees during his Punjab-Haryana-Chandigarh visit on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated or formally launched development projects worth billions of rupees during his Punjab-Haryana-Chandigarh visit. The highlight of his visit to Haryana was the inauguration of the Jind-Sonepat hydrogen train. This is the country's first train powered by hydrogen gas and with its launch, India has become the sixth country in the world to run trains using this technology. It is worth noting that this technology is currently being used only in Germany, China, Japan, France and Sweden, and nowhere else.

Its important aspect is that it is smoke-free. Due to this, it is considered beneficial in terms of environmental conservation. This project, connecting the 89 km long corridor, can prove to be the main means of connecting the interior parts of Haryana with the main rail route. During the same event, Mr. Modi also virtually dedicated to the nation or laid the foundation stone of eight projects worth Rs 15 thousand crore.

These include the construction of a Sikh museum in Kurukshetra. This project, costing Rs 160 crore, is considered to be part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's efforts to increase its base among the Sikh population in Haryana as well as Punjab (where assembly elections are due in the next six months). Like in Haryana, by inaugurating or laying the foundation stones of development projects worth Rs 4,700 crore in Chandigarh, the Prime Minister saw fit to assure the people of this union territory and its surrounding areas that the central government is taking care of their interests as much as it is of other parts of the country.

The projects in Chandigarh are mainly focused on expanding the scope of services of PGI and increasing the accommodation facilities for students in educational institutions. It is imperative that these are completed at the earliest. Prime Minister Modi's visit to Punjab was being given more political importance in view of the upcoming elections to the state assembly. Although his visit focused on the inauguration of the new building of the Jalandhar Cantonment Railway Station, he also inaugurated/launched various development projects worth Rs. 5470 crore through it. Jalandhar Cantonment and Sri Muktsar Sahib Railway Station have been completely renovated on modern lines.

Apart from these, the inauguration or public dedication ceremony of road and rail projects was also carried out through video-conferencing. Since the upcoming election riots have already taken place in Punjab, the political bitterness arising from it has also started dominating the political scene. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, after attending the formal welcome of Mr. Modi in Chandigarh, kept his distance from the Jalandhar event. As per the government protocol, the ceremonial representation of the state was performed there by two ministers - Aman Arora and Harpal Singh Cheema. The presence of Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, a Rajya Sabha member of the ruling AAP, at the Jalandhar event certainly created a basis for political speculation, but the weight in his favor should not be ignored that if an MP is not present at events related to regional development, it cannot be called a dereliction of duty. 

Since Modi does not shy away from using every government opportunity for electioneering, he also used his visit to Punjab-Haryana for the same purpose. It is natural for political aesthetes to dislike such an approach of the Prime Minister, but for Mr. Modi, numbers have always been more important than political success. This element was the main aspect of his speeches in Jind and Jalandhar. Whispers like "Jind's ghee and ghewar have to remain the same but the attitude has changed" are an example of election campaigner's vocabulary. Such worries were an important part of his speech in Jalandhar Cantonment too. It is a different matter that the intensity of his interaction with the audience that was seen in Jind was not as intense as in Jalandhar. It is clear that while the BJP still needs to work hard in Punjab to foster such a closeness, Prime Minister Modi also needs to understand that Punjabis cannot be fooled much through verbal tricks.