Modi in Rae Bareli: PM flags off 900th coach, Humsafar Rake of Modern Coach Factory

New Delhi, Dec 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Raebareli, the parliamentary constituency of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Sunday (December 16), and flagged off the Humsafar Express.

He will also visit Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, to review preparations for the Kumbh Mela to be held in the city next year.

"The Modern Coach Factory is a proof to exploitation the of nation's resources done during previous government. We changed this situation after we came to power," said PM Modi.

"Rae Bareli coach manufacturing factory would very soon become world's biggest manufacturing factory," said PM Modi.

"The factory would produce coach of high speed trains, metro trains and aluminium coaches. The expansion of coach factory would ring in opportunities for people," he added.

"This factory was sanctioned in 2007 and was built in 2010. For 4 years parts of the coach from Kapurthala were assembled and painted here. The factory that was supposed to make new coaches was never allowed to work at its full capacity," said PM Modi in Rae Bareli

"The Central government is committed to development of Rae Bareli. But, earlier govts neglected it," said PM Modi in first rally after BJP's loss in polls.

If capacity of Modern Coach Factory is increased it will give employment to youth. Think of the time when 10-12 coaches will be made here in a day. The expansion of this factory will bring employment for engineers and technicians.

"Country will neither forget nor forgive previous government's attitude towards Army. For us, the country comes first and not the party. We are trying our best that those who sacrifice their lives for us shouldn't face any difficulties," said PM Modi

"Today there are 2 sides before the country. One side is the govt that is trying to strengthen our forces. The other side that wants to weaken our forces at any cost. Country is witness that Congress is standing with forces that don't want our forces to strengthen," he added.

"The people of the party that raises questions on surgical strikes, trust enemy's claims more than our Army, what can be expected of them?" said the Prime Minister.

"Some or the other foreigner was involved in every defence deal during UPA regime," said the Prime Minister.

"Chopper scam accused Christian Michel was brought to the country a few days ago. Everyone saw how Congress sent their lawyer to save him," said PM Modi.

"The Congress didn't fulfill its promise to Karnataka farmers. They promised loan waivers, but according to a recent report not even 1000 farmers got this benefit in over 6 months," said PM Modi.

The prime minister is also expected to lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various development projects to the tune of Rs 1,100 crore during the visit.

Around 11.30 am he will be flying to Prayagraj along with UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to oversee the preparations of Kumbh Mela.

The prime minister will be inaugurating a new airport complex at the Bamrauli Airport in presence of union civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu at 4.30 pm before leaving for Delhi.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has not visited her constituency Raebareli since April this month. Modi's visit to her constituency is seen as an attempt to outflank Congress party from their stronghold in the 2019 general elections.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also recently spent his MPLAD funds on development work in Raebareli.

On Thursday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had visited Rae Bareli to oversee preparations for the visit. He also took a tour of the Rail Coach Factory in the district.

The prime minister's visit is being seen as a strategy of the BJP to pin the Congress leadership in their respective constituencies in the 2019 general election. Rae Bareli is represented in the Lok Sabha by former Congress chief and UPA (United Progressive Alliance) chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

PM Modi's visit was planned before the counting of votes polled in the five states was taken up on December 11, following which the Congress party threw out BJP governments in three states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

PM Modi is likely to visit Uttar Pradesh again on December 29 to issue a commemorative postal stamp on backward caste Maharaja Suheldev Rajbhar and lay the foundation stone of infrastructure projects in Ghazipur.

(with PTI inputs)