'A special selfie': Modi after meeting specially-abled BJP worker

CHENNAI: At the end of his visit to Chennai on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with a specially-abled Bharatiya Janata Party worker, Thiru S. Manikandan and took a "special selfie" with him.

PM Modi was on a visit to Chennai to inaugurate several development projects. Sharing his selfie on his Twitter handle, PM Modi said, "A special selfie... In Chennai I met Thiru S. Manikandan. He is a proud Karyakarta from Erode, serving as a booth president."

"A person with a disability, he runs his own shop and the most motivating aspect is, he gives a substantial part of his daily profits to BJP," he added.

Extending his gratitude to Manikandan, PM Modi said, "I feel very proud of being a Karyakarta in a Party where we have people like Thiru S. Manikandan." "His life journey is inspiring and equally inspiring his commitment to our Party and our ideology. My best wishes to him for his future endeavours," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated developmental projects worth Rs 5,200 crores in Tamil Nadu's Chennai and said that the government's work culture and vision have made its achievements possible. The Prime Minister said that his government works with deadlines and achieves results even before the final date.

"Two things made the government's achievements possible: work culture and vision. Earlier, infrastructure projects meant delays, now they mean delivery. The journey from delay to delivery has happened due to our work culture. We feel accountable for every rupee that our taxpayers pay. We work with specific deadlines and achieve results even before them," PM Modi said in his address at a public meeting. He said that his government does not see infrastructure as concrete, bricks and cement but with a human face which "connects aspirations with achievements".

"Infrastructure connects Aspirations with Achievements, People with Possibilities, and Dreams with Reality. It is the time for new hopes, new aspirations and new beginnings. Some new generation infrastructure projects will begin to serve the people from today. In the past few years, India has been witnessing a revolution in terms of infrastructure. It is driven by Speed and Scale. When it comes to Scale, you can just look at the Union Budget!" the Prime Minister said.

He laid down the statistics of the change in the pace of execution of developmental projects in the country after his government came to power at the Centre in 2014.

"As far as the speed is concerned, some facts can give us the right perspective. The length of the National Highways added per year has almost doubled when compared to the pre-2014 era. Before 2014, every year, 600 Route KMs of the Rail lines were electrified; today, this rate is reaching about 4,000 Route KMs! Until 2014, there were only 74 airports in the country, but post-2014, the number stands at around 150," PM Modi said.

"The long coastline of Tamil Nadu is very significant for trade. Today, the capacity augmentation of our ports has almost doubled when compared to the pre-2014 era. The development of Tamil Nadu is of priority to us," he added.

The Prime Minister mentioned the Vande Bharat Express between Chennai and Coimbatore which he flagged off earlier today, and said that it connects small businesses with customers.

"The new terminal of Chennai airport brings the world to Tamil Nadu. It brings investment which creates income opportunities for the youth here," he said.