Ahead of the assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, are both visiting Maharashtra today (October 5). The PM will inaugurate projects worth Rs56,000 crore, while Gandhi will unveil a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Kolhapur and attend the Sanvidhan Sanman conference.

These visits mark a strong start to the election campaigns for both the Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliances. The PM is in the state to launch several development projects costing over Rs56,000 crore, including the Banjara Virasat Museum in Washim (celebrating the Banjara community’s heritage), and agriculture and animal husbandry projects worth Rs23,300 crore.

He will also lay the foundation for various development projects worth over Rs32,800 crore in Thane. From the BKC Metro Station, he will flag off the BKC-Aarey service for Metro-3 and will also travel between BKC and Santacruz stations. In support of 94 crore farmers, he will release the 18th instalment of the PMKISAN Samman Nidhi, totalling nearly Rs20,000 crore. ‘With this release, the total funds given to farmers under this scheme will touch around Rs3.45 lakh crore.

During this visit, the PM will launch over 7,500 projects under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), totalling over Rsl,920 crore. Most of this funding will go towards building primary processing units, warehouses, sorting and grading units, and cold storage facilities, among other initiatives. He will also inaugurate 9,200 Farmer Producer Organisations with a combined turnover of around Rs1,300 crore. Additionally, he will open five solar parks with a total capacity of 19 MW across Maharashtra as part of the ‘Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0".

During the event, he will honour beneficiaries of the ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. In Thane, he will lay the H.-J"-' PM to launch projects costing over 356,000 cr Banjara Virasat Museum in Washim Agriculture and animal husbandry project Foundation stone Various development projects worth over 332,800 crore in Thane To flag off BKC-Aarey service for Metro-3 foundation stone for the Integral Ring Metro Rail Project, costing about Rs12,200 crore, the Elevated Eastern Freeway Extension from Chheda Nagar to Anand Nagar in Thane (Rs 3,310 crore), the Phase 1 of the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA) (Rs2,550 crore) and a new Thane Municipal Corporation building, estimated to cost around Rs700 crore.

Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to visit Kolhapur on October 4 but had to cancel the trip due to a problem with his flight. He will now arrive in Kolhapur on October 5 at 10am. He will unveil the statue of Shivaji Maharaj at Bhagwa Chowk, visit the memorial of Shahu Maharaj, and attend the Sanvidhan Sanman conference, interacting with over 500 people from different NGOs. It remains to be seen the kind of political statements both leaders would make.