PM Modi In Aligarh, Lays Foundation Stone For Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh University & Defence Corridor
PM Modi visited the exhibition models of the Aligarh node of the Uttar Pradesh defence industrial corridor and Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh on Tuesday. The PM was accompanied by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the event.
PM Modi also visited the exhibition models of the Aligarh node of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor.
With the event taking place in Aligarh, PM Modi also formally kickstarted the UP elections campaign for BJP.
PM Modi addressed the huge gathering who participated in the inaugural event. He began his speech by wishing people on Radhashtami.
PM Modi said, "Today is a big day for Aligarh, for Western Uttar Pradesh. Today is Radhashtami, which makes today's day even more sacred. Radha is there in every particle of Brij Bhumi. I, therefore, extend my hearty greetings to the entire nation on the occasion of Radhastami".
The state government has established the university in memory and honour of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, a freedom fighter, educationist, and social reformer.
The university is being set up in an area spread over 92 acres in the Lodha and Musepur Kareem Jarouli villages of Aligarh's Kol tehsil. It will provide affiliation to 395 colleges of the Aligarh division, the PMO said.
The government's decision to set up the university after the noted Jat figure is being politically seen as part of the ruling BJP's bid to win over the community ahead of the crucial assembly polls in the state early next year.
A section of Jats, who live in sizeable numbers in western Uttar Pradesh, are seen to be aggrieved with the BJP over the issues of farmers.
The establishment of a defense industrial corridor in Uttar Pradesh was announced by Modi while inaugurating the UP investors summit in Lucknow on February 21, 2018. A total of six nodes Aligarh, Agra, Kanpur, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, and Lucknow have been planned in the corridor. In the Aligarh Node, the land allocation process has been completed, and land has been allotted to 19 firms that will invest Rs 1,245 crore in the node.
Who was Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh?
Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh was an alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and was also the president of India's first provisional government-in-exile established on December 1, 1915, in Kabul.
Belonging to the royal family of Mursan, he had left his home and family in Aligarh in December 1914 and escaped to Germany and remained in exile for about 33 years as he was wanted by the British authorities.
He returned in 1947 only after India gained independence. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Mathura in 1957, defeating the then Jan Sangh candidate Atal Bihari Vajpayee, contesting as an Independent.
"Raja Mahendra Pratap is one of the most remarkable figures of India's freedom movement and his commitment to the cause of a secular democratic India marks him as a giant of his times," said noted scholar and political historian professor Shan Mohammad, as quoted by PTI.
"His commitment to the cause of secularism is comparable to Gandhi's and Nehru's. He fully deserves to be honoured but his legacy should be fully respected," he added.
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