'Special day for UP’s growth trajectory': Narendra Modi to inaugurate 341-km-long Purvanchal Expressway today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Purvanchal Expressway at Karwal Kheri in Sultanpur district today. The inauguration will be held at around 1:30 pm, the Prime Minister's Office said.On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about today's inauguration. He wrote, "Tomorrow is a special day for Uttar Pradesh’s growth trajectory. At 1:30 pm, the Purvanchal Expressway will be inaugurated. This project brings with it multiple benefits for UP’s economic and social progress." After the inauguration, as per the PMO, Modi will also witness an airshow by the Indian Air Force on the 3.2 km long airstrip constructed on the Expressway in Sultanpur district to enable landing and take-off of Indian Air Force fighter planes in case of emergency.The expresswayThe 341 kilometre-long Purvanchal Expressway starts from village Chaudsarai, district Lucknow located on Lucknow-Sultanpur road (NH-731) and ends at village Hydaria located on National Highway number 31, 18 kilometres east of the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border.The expressway is six-lanes wide, which can be expanded to eight lanes in the future. Constructed at an estimated cost of about Rs 22,500 crore, the Purvanchal Expressway is set to give a boost to the economic development of the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh especially the districts of Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid its foundation stone in July 2018, about a year after the Yogi Adityanath government came to power.The chief executive officer (CEO) of Uttar Pradesh Industrial and Expressways Development Authority (UPIEDA), Avanish Awasthi informed that the Purvanchal Expressway will act as a lifeline for east Uttar Pradesh. He said with the construction of the expressway, it would become easy to cover UP from Delhi through the road.SP vs BJPThe inauguration of the expressway has also led to a political battle between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BJP, with both parties wanting to take credit for the project. SP chief and former CM Akhilesh Yadav has asked his party workers to ‘symbolically’ inaugurate the expressway after he was denied permission to carry out a rally close to the venue of PM Modi’s programme. Yadav’s ‘Vijay Yatra’ was also scheduled for 16 November.The SP cadre will ride bicycles at these places to inaugurate the epxressway. Akhilesh stated that the foundation of the project was laid during his party's tenure and also alleged that the BJP government had compromised on the quality of the road.With inputs from ANI