Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off the Secunderabad-Tirupati Vande Bharat Express train here.
He boarded the stationary train at the railway station and interacted with schoolchildren.
The train will reduce the travel time between Secunderabad in Telangana and Tirupati in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, by almost three and a half hours and will be particularly beneficial for pilgrims.
On January 15, Modi had virtually flagged off the Vande Bharat train service between Secunderabad and the port city of Visakhapatnam in AP, which was the first such service connecting the two Telugu-speaking states.
LIVE updates:
01:31 pm: “We have increased the system of digital payment across the country, but why didn’t this happen earlier? It did not happen because the dynastic forces did not want to give up their control over the system. The familists wanted to keep the control of which beneficiary would get what benefit and how much.
This proved their three meanings 1 – May his family be hailed 2 – The money of corruption should keep coming to his family only. 3 – The money that is sent for the poor should be useful for distribution in their corrupt eco-system. But today Modi has attacked the very root of corruption,” he said.
01:26 pm: “A few days back some political parties had gone to the court to seek protection so that no one opens their corruption books but the court turned them back,” PM Modi said without naming any political parties.
01:20 pm: “Along with railways, the network of highways in Telangana is also being developed rapidly. Due to the continuous efforts of the Central Government, today the length of National Highways in Telangana has doubled. In the year 2014, there was about 2500 km long National Highway here, which has increased to 5,000 km today: PM Modi
01:17 pm: “During the last 9 years, a metro network of about 70 kilometers has been built in Hyderabad. Work has also progressed rapidly on the Multi Modal Transport System (MMTS) project of Hyderabad. For rapid expansion of MMTS, Rs 600 crore has been kept for Telangana in this year’s Union Budget,” he said.
01:12 pm: PM Modi slams state government for ‘delay’ in responses over development projects. “Please bring speed to developmental projects,” he asked the BRS government.
01:11 pm: “The NDA government has been dedicated towards fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of Telangana’s people. We have been moving ahead with the spirits of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’,” PM Modi said.
12:40 pm: Modi begins speech at parade grounds. He Congratulates the people of Telangana on the launch of infra projects. “City of Bhagyalakshmi temple connected to the city of Lord Venkateshwara,” Modi said after the Vande Bharat Express launch.
“Vande Bharat Express represents a convergence of Faith, Modernity, Technology, and Tourism! Also, the inauguration & laying of the foundation stones for the development projects worth Rs. 11,000 crore today marks a special day for Telangana,” he said.
12:27 pm: PM Modi flags off Vande Bharat Express between Secunderabad and Tirupati
11:30 am: Prime Minister arrives in Hyderabad. He is welcomed by Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan, union minister and Secunderabad MP G Kishan Reddy, state Animal Husbandry minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav and state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar among others.
10:00 am: #GoBackFascistModi trends on Twitter ahead of PM Modi’s visit to Telangana, Tamil Nadu
9:15 am: PM Modi tweeted, ‘Leaving for Hyderabad’.
KCR skipped receiving PM again
Reprising his old stand, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao again skipped receiving PM Modi.
The state government on Thursday named Animal Husbandry Minister T. Srinivas Yadav as minister-in-waiting for the Prime Minister’s visit, and he recieved Modi on his arrival at the Begumpet Airport.
This is the fifth time in the last 14 months that the Chief Minister did not receive the Prime Minister on the latter’s visit to the state.
Traffic restrictions
Ahead of PM Modi’s visit, Hyderabad traffic police issued traffic restrictions for today.
Due to the movement of vehicles carrying people for the public meeting at Parade Grounds, heavy traffic congestion is expected on the routes of Monappa (Rajiv Gandhi Statue) – Green Lands – Prakashnagar – Rasoolpura – CTO – Plaza – SBH– YMCA – St. John Rotary – Sangeeth crossroad– Alugadda Bavi – Mettuguda – Chilkalguda – Tivoli – Balamrai- Sweekar Upkar – Secunderabad Club – Trimulgherry – Tadbund – Central Point.
The traffic police notified the public that the road length between Tivoli crossroads to Plaza crossroads and vice versa would be closed. Similarly, the route between SBH crossroads and Sweekar Upkar junction would be blocked to traffic.
