Sharad Pawar invited to confer Lokmanya Tilak award on Modi; Oppn raises objection
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on Tuesday (August 1) will be conferred the Lokmanya Tilak Award in Pune, is slated to lay the foundation stone of a host of development projects during his visit.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar, has been invited as the chief guest to the event and will confer the award on Modi. While the Uddhav Thackeray faction, an ally of NCP, has called the decision “inappropriate”, a delegation of leaders from various political parties will meet Pawar on Monday to advise him against going to the event.
Also read: PM Modi in Pune on Aug 1, to be conferred Lokmanya Tilak National Award
Modi is slated to be conferred the award at 11.45. The award was instituted by the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust in 1983, to honour the legacy of Lokmanya Tilak, as per a statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB). The award is given to people who have worked for the progress and development of the nation and whose contribution can only be looked upon as remarkable and extraordinary, the Press Information Bureau said in a statement said.
It is presented every year on August 1, the death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak.
Prime Minister Modi will become the 41st recipient of the award. It has previously been presented to luminaries such as Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, Pranab Mukherjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, N R Narayana Murthy and E Sreedharan, among others.
What’s on agenda?
At 12.45 pm, the prime minister will flag off Metro trains and inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for various development projects, the PIB statement said.
Modi will flag off Metro trains marking the inauguration of services on completed sections of the two corridors of Pune Metro Phase I. These sections are from Phugewadi station to Civil Court station and Garware College station to Ruby Hall Clinic station, it said.
The foundation stone for the project was also laid by PM Modi in 2016.
The new sections will connect important places of Pune city like Shivaji Nagar, Civil Court, Pune Municipal Corporation office, Pune RTO and Pune Railway Station.
“The inauguration is an important step towards realising the vision of the prime minister to provide the citizens with modern and environment-friendly mass rapid urban transport systems across the country,” the statement said.
Modi will also inaugurate the Waste to Energy Plant under Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
Developed at a cost of about ₹300 crore, it will use up about 2.5 lakh MT of waste annually to produce electricity, the statement said.
Moving ahead towards the mission of achieving housing for all, Prime Minister Modi will hand over more than 1,280 houses constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana by PCMC.
He will also hand over more than 2,650 PMAY houses constructed by the Pune Municipal Corporation. Further, Modi will also lay the foundation stone for around 1,190 PMAY houses to be constructed by the PCMC, and of more than 6,400 houses constructed by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the statement said.
Opposition puts up ‘Go Back Modi’ posters
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress’ youth wing has put up posters with the message “Go Back Modi” in some parts of Pune city as a mark of protest against the unrest in Manipur.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Sandeep Singh Gill said they are in touch with the Pune Municipal Corporation to remove these “unauthorised” posters.
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Members of the opposition bloc INDIA are also planning a protest against PM Modi’s visit on Tuesday.
The opposition alliance members in a release said the prime minister has time to go to foreign countries, but not to Manipur, which has been witnessing ethnic classes since early May.
(With inputs from agencies)
