Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate two projects there worth a total of Rs. 24,000 crore
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the Naxal-affected Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region today. This will be Mr Modi's first visit to the region after becoming the Prime Minister last year.
Mr Modi is scheduled to inaugurate two projects there worth a total of Rs. 24,000 crore - a steel plant in Dantewada's Dilmili village and the second phase of a 140 km railway line from Raoghat to Jagdalpur.
Mr Modi will be the first Prime Minister after Rajiv Gandhi to visit to region to inaugurate development projects. Other prime ministers since Mr Gandhi have visited the region, but for election campaigns.
The Naxals are protesting Mr Modi's visit. On Friday, they chopped a tree and used it to block a road, put up posters registering their protest, and hung effigies of Mr Modi and Chief Minister Raman Singh.
The Congress, meanwhile, alleged that the real reason for the PM's visit is to give corporates access to the minerals-rich Bastar region, and not to enquire about the welfare of its people.
"Where was Mr Modi when people were dying? Now he is coming to sign Memorandums of Understanding," said Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel on Friday.
The BJP says it's wrong for the Congress to boycott the Prime Minister's visit. "They should not do politics at the cost of development," said Shrichand Sundrani, the BJP's spokesperson in Chhattisgarh.
Mr Modi was scheduled to visit Naya Raipur too, but now won't be, because strong winds on Friday afternoon led to the collapse of the roof of a stage from which the PM planned to address 1 lakh people. Forty six people, including police officials, were injured in the accident.
The Prime Minister also plans to visit Education City and Livelihood College, where he will interact with students and record his monthly radio programme, "Mann Ki Baat".
Over 15,000 security officials have been deployed for Mr Modi's visit. The road which Mr Modi will take is being sanitized; sniffer dogs too have been deployed.
Dantewada in tribal Bastar region is rich in mineral resources, especially iron ore. The area has witnessed a string of Naxal attacks in the past, with the worst being the 2010 Maoist assault that left 76 CRPF personnel dead.