Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his yet another visit to Karnataka on Sunday inaugurated the 10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway at Mandya. Besides inaugurating, the PM laid foundation stones for several key road projects on Sunday at Mandya in Karnataka.
The 118-km long Bengaluru-Mysuru road project has been developed at a total cost of around Rs 8,480 crores. It will reduce the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru from around 3 hours to about 75 minutes and will act as a catalyst for socio-economic development in the region, read the statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Earlier in the day, Modi tagged a tweet by Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari who said the construction of the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway, which encompasses a portion of NH-275, entails the development of four rail overbridges, nine significant bridges, 40 minor bridges, and 89 underpasses and overpasses.
He also laid the foundation stone for Mysuru-Kushalnagar 4-lane highway. Spread over 92 kilometres, the project will be developed at a cost of around Rs 4,130 crores and will help halve the travel time from about 5 to only 2.5 hours.
The project will play a key role in boosting the connectivity of Kushalnagar with Bengaluru and will help halve the travel time from about 5 to only two-and-a-half hours, it said.
Prime Minister’s presence in Mandya assumes significance from political point of view in the poll-bound Karnataka where the general assembly elections are due in May.
Mandya district, a key part of the old Mysuru region, has traditionally been a JD(S) bastion. The district has seven assembly constituencies and barring one rest are represented by the JD(S) legislators.
The BJP made inroads into the Mandya district by winning one seat (KR Pet) during the 2019 bypolls.
At this crucial juncture, the party could persuade the Mandya independent MP Sumalatha to announce her 'full support' to the BJP two days before the Prime Minister's visit to the district.