PM Modi to flag off Chennai-Mysuru Vande Bharat Express, unveil Kempegowda's 108-feet statue tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru on Friday (November 11) to unveil the 108-feet bronze statue of city's founder Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, and also inaugurate Terminal 2 of the International Airport, built at a cost of around Rs 5,000 crore.

Modi will attend a public function and address a mass gathering later in the day. PM will also be flagging off south India's first 'Vande Bharat Express' train between Mysuru and Chennai via Bengaluru.

This visit of the Prime Minister is also politically significant for the ruling BJP in Karnataka, with about just about five months for the Assembly polls in the state, as the saffron party hopes to return to power, and has set a target of winning a minimum of 150 out of the 224 seats.

The party leaders hope this visit will energise cadres and mobilise public support in its favour.

Modi, who will arrive in the city on Friday morning, will pay floral tributes to the statues of saint poet



Kanaka Dasa at around 9:45 am (on account of Kanaka Jayanti, his birth anniversary), and Maharshi Valmiki at the Vidhana Soudha premises. Both Kanaka Dasa and Valmiki are revered in the state, especially by Kuruba and Valmiki (ST) communities.

Modi will then move to a venue nearby, where he will unveil the 108 feet statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda at around 12:30 pm, which is the "first and tallest bronze statue of a founder of a city", as per 'World Book of Records'.

Called the "Statue of Prosperity", it has been built to commemorate the contribution of Kempegowda, the founder of the city, towards the growth of Bengaluru. The statue weighing 218 tonne ( 98 tonnes of bronze and 120 tonnes of steel) has been installed at the Kempegowda International Airport. It has a sword weighing 4 tonnes.

The project, besides the statue, has a heritage theme park in an area covering 23 acres dedicated to the 16th century chieftain, together costing about Rs 84 crore to the government.