Modi to launch UDAN scheme on April 27

This will be Modi's second visit to Himachal Pradesh since he became the Prime Minister in May 2014. Himachal Pradesh is scheduled to go to the polls in November.

Shimla, April 23: A grand reception awaits Prime Minister Narendra Modi's day-long visit to the 'Queen of Hills' as Shimla was fondly called by the British colonial rulers, this week to launch an air connectivity scheme and sound the poll bugle in the state, a BJP leader said on Sunday.

Modi will hold a massive roadshow, besides launching the Centre's subsidised air regional connectivity scheme UDAN, or 'Ude Desh ka Har Nagarik', building efficient regional air connectivity from Shimla on April 27.

Later, he will address a public meeting, which is likely to see participation of over one lakh party workers, at the historic Ridge,once the promenade for the British colonial rulers when this city was their summer capital.

"Prime Minister Modi will land at the Jubbarhatti airport near Shimla around 11 am and launch the UDAN scheme," former state Health Minister Rajeev Bindal, who is in charge of the Prime Minister's ally, told IANS.

Bindal said that "after inaugurating the maiden regional connectivity Shimla-Delhi flight from the airport, located 2,196 metres above sea-level, Modi will start his roadshow from Chaura Maidan to the Ridge, the rally venue, 3 km away."

The Shimla airport has been shut for scheduled flights since September 6, 2012, affecting tourists and business travellers to the state.

The Prime Minister will also flag off the regional connectivity Nanded-Mumbai-Hyderabad 'UDAN' flight in Maharashtra and Katappa-Hyderabad flight in Karnataka from Jubbarhatti through video-conferencing, Union Civil Aviation Secretary R.K. Choubey said.

IANS