PM Modi inaugurates Mahakal Corridor in Ujjain, says India has broken 'shackles of colonialism'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the first phase of the Mahakal Lok corridor project at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh and also performed puja at the famous Mahakaleshwar temple in the city. The country has now broken the "shackles of colonialism" and cultural sites are undergoing comprehensive development, he said.

Earlier in the day, he inaugurated healthcare facilities in Ahmedabad, and also took on Congress at a rally by claiming that it had now "outsourced" the job of targeting him to others as it is trying to capture votes silently in rural parts in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls.

The highlight of the prime minister's visit to Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh was the function to dedicate the first phase of the more-than-900 metres-long Mahakal corridor at Ujjain.

The total project cost of the Mahakal Lok (corridor) is Rs 856 crore with the first phase costing Rs 351 crore, a state official said.

The corridor, said to be one of the longest in the country, traverses the old Rudrasagar lake which has been revived as part of the redevelopment project around the Mahakaleshwar Temple, one of the 12 'jyotirlingas'.

Before that, the prime minister performed puja inside the sanctum sanctorum of Mahakal Temple, attired in traditional dhoti and gamcha (stole).

Speaking at a public function afterwards, Modi said the corridor project will add to Ujjain's vibrancy. "Spirituality is contained in every particle and divine energy is being transmitted in every corner of Ujjain," he said, adding, "Ujjain has led India's prosperity, knowledge, dignity and literature for thousands of years."

"Innovation comes with renovation. India is renovating what it had lost in the era of slavery. India is renovating it and restoring its glory," he said.

The country has now broken the "shackles of colonialism" and cultural destinations across India are seeing all-around development, the prime minister said.

Earlier in the day, the prime minister addressed a rally at Jamkandorna town in Rajkot district in Gujarat ahead of the state Assembly polls due this year-end.

"In the last 20 years, those who were against Gujarat left no stone unturned to defame the state. They hurled choicest abuse against me, including calling me ?maut ka saudagar'," the prime minister said, in apparent reference to the Congress leadership.

"They have suddenly gone silent. They have outsourced the contract of creating ruckus, making noise and abusing me, to others. They are silently going to villages and asking people for votes,? he said, without naming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the new entrant to Gujarat poll fray.

When the government makes a move against corruption, "an entire group shouts against us", and begins to defame government institutions, he said.

"Why don't you give a straight reply to the allegations levelled against you. You will have to pay back whatever you have looted from the public," Modi added.

Congress leaders should be asked if they visited the world's tallest Statue of Unity, built in honour of India's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he told BJP workers.

Gujarat was transformed in the last 20 years, said Modi who was the state's chief minister from 2001 to 2014.

Later he launched Rs 1,275 crore-worth healthcare facilities at the Civil Hospital (Asarwa) in Ahmedabad.

A doctor prescribes medicine, surgery and proper care to cure a patient, the prime minister said on the occasion.

"If I am to put the same thing differently, then to improve the healthcare system of Gujarat, my government adopted all these three processes," said Modi.

"Surgery means changing the old system. My way of surgery is to use the scissors on inaction, sloppiness and corruption. Then comes medicine, which means making new efforts every day to develop new systems, human resources, infrastructure, innovation, building new hospitals. And the third is care, which is the most important part of improving Gujarat's health sector," he said.

Among other "diseases" that afflicted Gujarat were misgovernance in education, lack of electricity and water, maladministration and poor law and order situation, said Modi.

"At the root of all these diseases was the biggest disease -- the politics of vote bank," the prime minister added.

Talking about his call of 'One Earth, One Health' at a G20 summit during the pandemic, Modi said in some countries people received four-five doses of anti-coronavirus vaccines, and then there were countries where the poor did not receive even a single dose.

"I was pained, and then India undertook the mission of supplying vaccines to the world," the prime minister said.