Today in Politics | Before the polls, the projects: PM has a busy day for MP, Chhattisgarh

BPCL said the project will contribute significantly to skill development in the region, and generate 15,000 jobs during the construction phase alone, apart from further one lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities.

The next halt for Modi will be Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh, also poll-bound, where he will inaugurate railway projects worth around Rs 6,350 crore, lay foundation stones for health facilities in nine districts, and distribute 1 lakh ‘sickle cell counselling cards’.

The BJP’s celebrations over the G20 Summit, which the party is set to uphold as an example of the rising India under Modi, as reported by Liz Mathew, continue. On Wednesday evening, the BJP headquarters welcomed Modi with slogans and a shower of flowers as he came to it for the first time after the Summit; and on Thursday, former Union minister Vijay Goel, who has been seeking to make his way back to the heart of party politics in Delhi, has planned a ‘Sarva Dharm Sadbhav Tiranga Yatra’ to celebrate the “grand success of G20 Summit under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

Away from the Capital, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will continue his three-day visit to Aam Aadmi Party-ruled Punjab. On Thursday, he will hold meetings with entrepreneurs in Amritsar and Jalandhar over the problems they face, along with CM Bhagwant Mann.

While the Supreme Court Wednesday refused to interfere with the Kejriwal government’s order putting a comprehensive ban on manufacturing, storage, sale and bursting of firecrackers in Delhi, saying people’s health is more important, it has asked the Delhi Police to formulate by Thursday how it would implement the total ban while regulating the guidelines of the Centre regarding green firecrackers.

“We want to know how these new guidelines are being implemented on the ground and what is the mechanism and penalty for violations,” the Court said.

BJP Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari had appealed that a complete ban had been imposed on firecrackers despite the Court allowing bursting of green firecrackers. But the Bench turned Tiwari’s appeal down, saying: “If you want to burst firecrackers, go to states where there is no ban.”

Watch out for: The Data Pack column, which looks at MLA salaries and emoluments across states, as West Bengal gives its legislators a handsome hike

(With PTI inputs)