Must PM Modi ‘inaugurate’ sewage system, conservation of a temple or four-laning of highways?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday ‘inaugurated’ a section of National Highway No. 215, four-laning of another section of the same highway, doubling of a railway line and beginning of conservation work of a temple and a fort in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. He then flew to Kerala to inaugurate similar projects.

This is the Prime Minister’s third visit to Odisha in less than one month.

PM Modi will also visit Kerala on Tuesday to inaugurate a road project in the state. The 13-km Kollam bypass on NH 66 has been built at a cost of ₹352 crore. Later in the day, PM will visit the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, where he is likely to unveil a plaque to mark the launch of some visitor facilities. It will be his third official visit of the Prime Minister to Kollam.

The Prime Minister’s has in the last few months inaugurated, among other projects, an underground sewage system in Maharashtra, a water supply scheme in a village in Manipur, extension of another section by Delhi Metro, laid the foundation stone of a university in Haryana and a Ring Road in Varanasi.

The PM’s inauguration spree ahead of the general election has raised eyebrows because of his blatantly political speeches that he has been delivering on every such occasion. While the projects are funded by tax payers, the Prime Minister is using more of tax payers’ money for propaganda purposes.

“Several projects are of purely local interest and importance,” says a journalist based in Odisha, “and they earlier would be inaugurated by the chief minister or other ministers of the state.” But the PM inaugurating these projects actually sends out the message that the PM is using these opportunities to canvass support for the BJP in the forthcoming election and before the Model Code of Conduct kicks in.

Another political observer in New Delhi pointed out on twitter that the PM will not be able to canvass as extensively as he did in 2014 because this time, as Prime Minister he will have less time to devote on campaigning. That is why the states and the areas chosen for the Prime Minister’s visits indicate where the BJP is trying to shore up its support.