Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday laid the foundation stone of Rs 23,000-crore Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh.

The six-lane expressway, which can be expanded to eight lanes, will provide a smooth ride between Lucknow and Ghazipur in eastern UP.

It will connect the state capital Lucknow with economically less developed districts like Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar and Amethi.

The eastern districts will be further connected to Agra and the national capital by the Lucknow-Agra Expressway and Yamuna Expressway.

The UP Cabinet had recently approved a proposal to seek bank loans of about Rs 12,000 crore for Purvanchal Expressway. The total cost of the project is over Rs 23,300 crore.

The project is likely to be completed in 36 months. 

After the event, PM Modi will travel to his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi later in the evening where he is likely to address a public gathering and also meet BJP workers at DLW guest house.

On the second day of UP tour, PM Modi is scheduled to visit Mirzapur on Sunday (July 15) where he will dedicate the Bansagar Canal Project to the nation there and lay the foundation stone for the Mirzapur Medical College. 

In his inaugration speech, he accussed Congress part of being a party of Muslims by saying :

" I have read in newspaper that Congress President has said that Congress is a party of Muslims, I am not surprised by this. All I want to ask is, is their party only for Muslim men or for women too? Ye log sansad mein kanoon dabakar baith jaate hain. The take of these parties on triple talaq have exposed them. On one side the Centre is trying to make the lives of women easy, on the other side these people have grouped together to make the lives of women, especially Muslim women, difficult"