PM’S CALENDAR CLEAR AS POLL CODE NEARS

MODI AND MANY OF HIS MINISTERS HAVE TRAVELLED ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS TO ROLL OUT PROJECTS

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hectic schedule to inaugurate or announce multiple projects ahead of the Lok Sabha elections might have got over on Saturday amid intense speculation about the announcement of the poll schedule.

Officials aware of developments indicated that the PM would travel to Ghaziabad on Sunday to celebrate the Raising Day of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). On Monday, he will attend the Padma awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The officials claimed that Modi’s schedule is “unlikely to have any more programmes to inaugurate a scheme or lay foundation stones in the next few days”. This could be an indication that the Prime Minister might be done with flagging off projects before the Election Commission’s model code of conduct kicks in with the announcement of poll dates.

The government cannot make any policy decisions or start new projects from the moment polls are announced till the end of the electoral process. New policies or programmes may be used as a tool to influence voters.

Modi and many of his ministers have travelled across the country in the past few weeks to roll out schemes and projects. On February 24, Modi — the face of the BJP’s campaign for the 2019 elections — had launched the ambitious scheme to provide assured income to farmers at Gorakhpur.

On March 5, he inaugurated the pension scheme for the unorganised sector, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana, at Vastral in Gujarat. The scheme, announced in the budget, provides major benefits for the 420 million-strong unorganized sector.