PM Modi to inaugurate widened NH stretch, attend Dev Deepawali in Varanasi on Monday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Monday to inaugurate a six-lane stretch of the national highway between the city and Prayagraj, and will also attend Dev Deepawali there.

A PMO statement said on Saturday that Modi will also undertake a site visit of Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor project and go to the Sarnath archaeological site as well.

The 73-km stretch of the newly widened and six-lane NH19, which has been made with a cost of Rs 2,447 crore, is expected to reduce the travel time between Prayagraj and Varanasi an hour, it added.

The statement noted that Dev Deepawali has become a world famous festival of light and fervour in Varanasi and is celebrated on every 'poornima' of the Hindu month of 'Kartik'.

The prime minister will start the festivities by lighting an earthen lamp on the Raj Ghat of Varanasi, which will be followed by lighting of 11 lakh diyas on both sides of the holy river Ganga, it said.  He will also see the light and sound show at the archaeological site of Sarnath, which had been inaugurated by him earlier this month.