Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia along with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of an airport in Rewa district.
This will be the sixth in the state after Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Khajuraho. The project, which is in its initial stage with land acquisition underway, will be established on 300 acres of land in the Chorahta area of Rewa city.
It is estimated to be completed by 2025. While addressing the gathering on this occasion, Scindia said that until a few years back, people were demanding railway connectivity in their cities, but things have changed now, and people are demanding airports.
Scindia, who switched to the BJP in early 2020 and became Civil Aviation Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, said till 2016 India had around 74 airports, and the BJP government has established the same number of airports in just nine years.
"Today is a historic day for Rewa and the Vindhya region when we are laying the foundation stone for this airport, and it happened only because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
You can see that 74 airports were established during the 70 years of Congress rule, while the same number of airports have been established within just nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership," Scindia added.
Scindia also attacked Madhya Pradesh Congress president and his ex-cabinet colleague Kamal Nath saying the latter was lamenting the shortage of money during his 15-month government.
"Jansevak ki kursi rone ke liye nahi hoti, janta ki seva karne ke liye hoti hai. (Jansevak's post is not for lamenting but to serve the people). Had the same excuse been given by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, this project would not have been possible today.
This is the difference between the BJP and the Congress," Scindia said. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asserted that the people of Rewa deserve this gift (airport) because they had given all eight assembly seats to the BJP in 2018.
Chouhan also announced to develop a Vindhya Expressway which will connect the region directly from the state capital Bhopal. Chouhan also attacked the Congress saying that despite a strong presence in the state cabinet, Vindhya region did not see any development till 2003.
"You might remember what kind of roads there used to be during the Digvijaya Singh led Congress government, and now you can see the roads of Rewa and entire Madhya Pradesh," Chouhan added.