Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took a metro ride along with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel from Section 1 Metro Station to GIFT City Metro Station after inaugurating the second phase of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail project.

Apart from Gujarat Chief Minister Patel, Prime Minister Modi was also accompanied by Governor Acharya Devvrat. During the metro ride, PM Modi also took the opportunity to interact with the youth of the state.

In his post on X, PM Modi shared pictures of him travelling in the metro and interacting with the youth. He said: “Inaugurated Phase-II of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project and on the way to today’s programme with energetic youngsters.”

The Phase-II project of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail will establish a 21 km route connecting the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Motera to Gandhinagar Sector 1, incorporating eight stations.

This extensive project, completed at an approximate cost of Rs. 5,384 crore, will integrate key destinations such as Gujarat National Law University, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, GIFT City, and more.

Following the inauguration of the second phase, the Ahmedabad Metro Rail network will span 68 km across two lines, the north-south corridor and the east-west corridor, encompassing a total of 54 stations, including four underground stations. The first phase, officially opened by the Prime Minister in 2022, comprises a 33.5-km-long north-south corridor with a travel duration of 65 minutes and a fare of Rs 35.

Today, PM Modi is set to unveil the nation’s inaugural Vande Bharat Metro, now renamed as the Namo Bharat Rapid Rail. This futuristic train system is designed to enhance connectivity between Bhuj and Ahmedabad, covering a distance of 359 km in just 5.45 hours.

For the general public, regular metro services are scheduled to commence from Ahmedabad on September 17, with the entire journey priced at Rs 455.

It is noteworthy that PM Modi recently visited his home state for the first time following the Lok Sabha polls, engaging with the beneficiaries of the ‘PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijlee Yojna’, a scheme offering free electricity, in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.

After the rape and murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital more than a month ago, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who held several meetings with the junior doctors to resolve the issues, has now invited a delegation of doctors for a meeting for the last time at her residence at 5 pm on Monday.

A communication has been dispatched to the junior doctors confirming, “This being the fifth and final attempt to engage with you, we invite you once more to a meeting with the Honorable Chief Minister at her residence in Kalighat for open discussions, continuing our previous dialogue.”

In contrast, the doctors have consistently sought live streaming of the meeting, as a means to bring transparency to the proceedings.

The doctors emphasised the need for live streaming to keep the public informed about the meeting proceedings, highlighting the validity of their five demands and the unwavering support they have garnered from the public for their apolitical stance and resilience against governmental pressures.

Should their demands be disregarded, the doctors expressed reluctance to participate in a meeting. As the junior doctors persist in their protest at Swasthya Bhawan in Salt Lake, the Tala Police Station in-charge, Abhijit Mondal, has undergone a medical examination at the CBI Office in Kolkata.

In response to the disruptions in health services, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee revealed on September 13 that 29 individuals had lost their lives. To assist affected families, the state government announced a symbolic financial relief of Rs 2 lakh for the family members of each deceased person.

During a visit to Swasthya Bhawan on Saturday, Banerjee engaged with the protesting doctors, assuring them of imminent action on their demands and accountability for those responsible, expressing personal distress over their plight during the rainy protest.

The doctors continue their protest against the heinous rape and murder of a trainee female doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, with the tragic incident occurring on August 9 within the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The BJP on Sunday called the announcement of resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the next two or three days a PR stunt saying his decision is a part of his plan to make his wife Sunita the CM.

BJP national spokesperson Shezad Poonwalla claimed that Kejriwal is enacting the resignation drama because the court did not acquit him in the excise policy scam case and instead granted him a conditional bail, which turned him into a ceremonial minister from the chief minister.

The AAP national convenor on Sunday announced that he will he resign as the Delhi CM in next two days and would demand early polls in Delhi. Kejriwal vowed not to sit in CM’s chair till people give him a certificate of honesty.

In a scathing attack, Poonwalla alleged that the AAP national convenor’s announcement is a part of his plan to make his wife Sunita Kejriwal the Chief Minister. “Arvind Kejriwal has done a PhD on how to make a virtue out of necessity,” he added.

While addressing party workers in Delhi today, Kejriwal said he would hold a meeting of AAP MLAs in the next couple of days and a party leader would take over as chief minister.

Hitting out at the Delhi Chief Minister, Poonwalla said, “He has taken two days’ time because his entire plan is to make his wife Sunita Kejriwal chief minister of Delhi in his place.”

“The emotional and PR cards that he is playing is aimed at creating a Manmohan Singh-like system in Delhi as former Congress president Sonia Gandhi did,” the BJP leader charged.

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, people ensured the defeat of the AAP and the Congress in all seven seats despite the Kejriwal-led party’s ‘jail ka badla vote campaign’, he added.