PM Modi in Ayodhya today to inaugurate airport

Ayodhya, Dec 30 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly constructed Maharishi Valmiki International Airport and revamped Ayodhya Dham Junction on Saturday, almost three weeks before he comes back to take part in the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple on January 22.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed his officials to treat the Saturday events as a rehearsal for the grand consecration ceremony.

The Prime Minister is likely to land at the airport around 10.45 a.m. after which he will go to the Ayodhya Dham Junction, where he will inaugurate the redeveloped railway station. His journey from the airport to railway station will be in the form of a roadshow, where he will acknowledge the greetings of people of Ayodhya.

The district administration had, on Thursday, begun work on putting up temporary wooden barricades on both sides of the recently redeveloped Ram Path, and other roads that will fall on the Prime Minister's route from the airport to the railway station.

Prime Minister Modi will then return to the airport, inaugurate the newly built airport and subsequently address a rally, where he will dedicate projects worth Rs 15,700 crore.

Out of this, Rs 11,100-crore projects are for revamping civic facilities and developing world-class infrastructure in Ayodhya. The remaining projects are for the rest of the state.

He will also flag off two new Amrit Bharat and six new Vande Bharat trains.

The city is all decked up with flowers, murals and thematic ornamental columns amid heavy security deployment. About 1.5 lakh people are expected to assemble for the rally that will last nearly an hour, after which the Prime Minister will depart from Ayodhya.