Vadodara, May 26 (IANS) Gujarat’s Vadodara is ready to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, as he returns to his home state for the first time since the launch of Operation Sindoor.

The visit will see the inauguration and foundation laying of multiple development projects valued at Rs 82,000 crore.

The Prime Minister will receive a grand welcome from more than 25,000 women, who will shower him with flowers in a special ‘Sindoor Samman Yatra’.

The Dawoodi Bohra community is also preparing to greet him with enthusiasm, while various cultural performances are being lined up in honour of the Indian Armed Forces and Operation Sindoor.

Vadodara Municipal Corporation officials have ramped up preparations and security arrangements ahead of the visit.

VMC Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu told IANS, “We are happy that PM Modi is coming here. The public has started arriving, and good arrangements have been made by the municipal and police departments. This event is being organised to honour and thank our armed forces and PM Modi for Operation Sindoor. People should participate extensively.”

Speaking to IANS, BJP Vadodara Metropolitan President Jaiprakash Soni said, “After the success of Operation Sindoor, the Prime Minister is coming here. A grand welcome will be given by Nari Shakti in the form of Sindoor Samman Yatra. 25,000 women will welcome him by showering flowers.”

Mrinali Kulkarni, one of the women participants, told IANS, “We are very excited and eager to see the Prime Minister. We salute the work he has done. Our army has done a great job under Operation Sindoor. We are proud of them and want to tell PM Modi to keep up the good work.”

A woman from the Dawoodi Bohra community also shared her excitement with IANS, saying, “We are here to express our gratitude to PM Modi for the successful Operation Sindoor. This is the first time that he is coming to Gujarat since the operation, and we are very excited.”

During his visit, PM Modi will first reach Dahod, where he will inaugurate the Loco Manufacturing Shop-Rolling Stock Workshop and address a public gathering in Kharod. He will also lay the foundation for various government and railway projects worth Rs 24,000 crore.

Two trains will be flagged off via video conferencing from Dahod. The first, the Sabarmati-Veraval Vande Bharat Express, will run six days a week and connect Sabarmati with Veraval, near the Somnath temple. The second, the Valsad-Dahod Express, will operate daily, covering a 346 km distance with 17 coaches.

Additionally, PM Modi will inaugurate a railway production unit in Dahod, built at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. He will also flag off an electric locomotive from the Dahod manufacturing plant.

The Prime Minister will then travel to Bhuj to launch development projects worth more than Rs 53,400 crore. These include initiatives in Kandla Port, solar energy, power transmission, and road infrastructure.

He will also unveil four drinking water supply schemes costing Rs 181 crore, designed to benefit 4.62 lakh people across 193 villages and one town in the Mahisagar and Dahod districts.

PM Modi is scheduled to lead a three-km-long roadshow from Ahmedabad Airport to Indira Bridge, where over 50,000 BJP workers and citizens are expected to gather. He will spend the night at Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar.

On the morning of May 27, at 10.30 a.m., he will hold another roadshow in Gandhinagar, expected to be joined by over 30,000 BJP workers. Following this, he will inaugurate and lay the foundation for projects worth Rs 5,536 crore at Mahatma Mandir.

Among the key projects, the Prime Minister will inaugurate 22,055 houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for Rs 1,006 crore. He will also lay the foundation for Phase 3 of the Sabarmati Riverfront, estimated to cost Rs 1,000 crore.

In a move to boost urban development, PM Modi will distribute cheques worth Rs 3,300 crore to urban local bodies under the Swarnim Jayanti Mukhyamantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana.

–IANS

sd/dpb