Lucknow: Defence Minister and Member of Parliament from Lucknow, Rajnath Singh, held a dialogue with senior BJP workers and eminent citizens of the Lucknow East Assembly constituency on Sunday evening. The interaction, titled Prabuddh Jan Samvad, was held at Iram School in Sector-C of Indiranagar.
Addressing the gathering, Rajnath Singh announced that open gyms would be installed in all major parks of Lucknow. He also said that each of the five assembly constituencies in Lucknow will see the construction of five community centres, five libraries, and old-age care centres.
Singh stressed that he makes it a point to meet as many workers as possible during his visits to his parliamentary constituency, even though his responsibilities as Defence Minister, Cabinet member, and international visits often keep him away. He assured the attendees that whenever he is in Delhi, he makes time to meet party workers from Lucknow.
Focus on Development
The Defence Minister highlighted major achievements in national defence production. “The BrahMos missile manufacturing unit in Lucknow is now complete and will be inaugurated on May 11. Earlier, India relied on foreign nations for defence equipment. Today, we are exporting weapons worth ₹24,000 crore,” he said. He credited this transformation to India’s growing domestic defence manufacturing capabilities.
He noted India’s rise in the global economic order—from 11th to 5th position—and projected that India will reach the 3rd spot by 2029. “Digital transactions in the country have reached ₹14 lakh crore, and UPI has revolutionized payments,” he added.
Speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s global stature, Singh said, “During the Russia-Ukraine war, PM Modi’s intervention led to a four-and-a-half-hour ceasefire that ensured the safe return of over 22,000 Indian students.”
Rajnath Singh also mentioned the positive impact of the 4 km-long Ring Road in Lucknow, which eases traffic for nearly two lakh vehicles daily and has accelerated the development of adjoining areas. He shared that the Gomti Nagar Railway Station is being developed into one of Asia’s most beautiful stations. Real estate prices in Lucknow, he noted, have now reached global standards.
He promised that the proposed community centres would also include well-equipped facilities for hosting weddings, with proper arrangements for the bride and groom. Singh added that travel time between Lucknow and Kanpur would be reduced to just 40-45 minutes within the next 6 to 8 months.
Local Issues Raised
MLA OP Srivastava brought up several pressing civic issues in the area:
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Damaged Water and Sewer Pipelines: Construction of flyovers by NHAI from Kalewa Chauraha to Munshipulia and onwards to Khurramnagar has led to broken underground pipelines, affecting water supply and sewer flow in multiple sectors of Indiranagar.
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Leaking Sewer Line in Vikas Nagar: A 2-km sewer line laid in 2010-11 is now leaking due to erosion, causing repeated road collapses in the colony, posing a serious hazard.
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Need for Overbridge at Surendra Nagar: To ease heavy traffic from Polytechnic to Ayodhya Road via Kamta police outpost, a new overbridge is essential, especially given the strategic importance of this route connecting to the High Court and Awadh Bus Stand.
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Permanent Chhath Ghat in Indira Priyadarshini Ward: A dedicated pucca ghat along the Kukrail River for Chhath Puja and widening of the access road was also proposed.
Rajnath Singh took note of these concerns and assured that appropriate departments would be instructed to resolve them at the earliest.
Acknowledging Citizens’ Contributions
Veterans and eminent personalities such as Ram Nagina Singh, Shyam Sundar Agnihotri, Ajay Kumar, and Hansraj Rajpal from the Sindhi community also offered their suggestions and appreciated the ongoing development work in Lucknow under Singh’s leadership.
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who was present, lauded the unprecedented scale of developmental work in Lucknow. “The Defence Minister frequently checks on the progress and asks what more can be done. He is bringing Atal Ji’s vision to life,” Pathak remarked.
Distinguished Presence
The event was attended by several BJP leaders including MLC Mukesh Sharma, Ramchandra Pradhan, Dr. Raghvendra Shukla, Lucknow Metropolitan BJP President Anand Dwivedi, and Iram College Managing Director. According to media in-charge Praveen Garg, other notable attendees included Rakesh Singh (Metropolitan Vice President), Mandal President Sumit Khanna, Narender Devdi, Reena Chaurasia, Abhishek Rai, Councillor Munna Mishra, Raghunath Shukla, and Pooja Jaswani.
