NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a university named after Jat King Mahendra Pratap Singh in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh on Tuesday.
According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the PM will address a gathering and then visit the exhibition models of the Aligarh node of the Uttar Pradesh defence industrial corridor and Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University.
This will be the first of the many scheduled visits of PM Modi ahead of the 2022 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, on 14 September 2021 at around 12 noon, which will be followed by his address on the occasion. The Prime Minister will also visit the exhibition models of Aligarh node of Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor and Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.
The university is being established by the Uttar Pradesh government in memory and honour of noted Jat figure Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, a freedom fighter, educationist and social reformer.
The university is being set up over 92 acres in Lodha and Musepur Kareem Jarouli villages of Aligarh's Kol tehsil and will provide affiliation to 395 colleges of the Aligarh division.
The government's decision to set up the university after the noted Jat figure is being politically seen as part of the ruling BJP's bid to win over the community ahead of the crucial assembly polls in the state early next year.
Jats are 17 per cent of the population in Western Uttar Pradesh and the community overwhelmingly supported the ruling party in 2014, 2017 and 2019, but with the farmer agitation gaining momentum, it looks like the community is not standing firmly behind the party this time.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and state chief minister Yogi Adityanath will also be present on the occasion.
