Mission Mumbai: Infra push, Bohra outreach

PM Modi launches two new Vande Bharat trains, inaugurates Arabic academy for Bohras

Yogesh Naik and Surendra P Gangan

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off two new Vande Bharat Express trains from Mumbai on Friday: the first to Solapur via Pune and the second to the temple town of Shirdi via Nashik. This was Modi’s second visit to Mumbai in less than a month, timed ahead of the civic polls. He also inaugurated two bridges on the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road connecting the eastern and western suburbs and an underpass at Kurar village.

Calling Vande Bharat “the face of new India” and a reflection of India’s “speed and scale”, the PM exulted that the flagging off of the two trains was a “huge day” for the railways. “The trains will connect economic centres such as Mumbai and Pune to centres of faith,” he said. “Travelling to sacred places like Shirdi, Nashik, Trimbakeshwar, Ramkund and Panchvati will be easier now, and both tourism and pilgrimages will get a boost.”

Later in the day, he inaugurated the new Marol campus of the Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic

Academy, a prominent educational institution of the Dawoodi Bohra community. Modi said that visiting the community felt like “coming home to family” and that he had been connected to the Bohras for four generations. “Coming here among you, feels like coming to a family. But I have a complaint. You repeatedly call me Prime Minister or Chief Minister… I am your family member, neither prime minister nor chief minister,” he said.

Modi’s visit comes at a time when his party is aiming to win the Mumbai civic elections and is reaching out to various communities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with students inside a Vande Bharat Express at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on Friday.