Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a series of development projects in five Uttar Pradesh cities, including his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
Besides the holy city, the other places where Modi inaugurated projects or symbolically laid foundation stones were Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra and Ghaziabad.
In Varanasi, the prime minister laid the foundation stone for the Kashi Vishwanath Temple's approach road and its beautification, and also inspected the project site.
After offering prayers at the temple, Modi said that he was blessed to be associated with the project of Kashi Vishwanath Dham.
About the beautification project, he said this was "mukti (freedom) for Kashi Vishwanath Dham" which was surrounded with encroachment.
The entire temple complex is now in the process of rejuvenation and the results were becoming visible, with a direct link being established between the Ganga river and Kashi Vishwanath temple, the prime minister said