NEW DELHI: With an eye on the upcoming assembly polls in Uttarakhand, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will visit the hill state to lay the foundation stone of a new railway line - from Rishikesh to Karnprayag - on November 9. On her first visit outside the National Capital after she underwent a surgery abroad for an undisclosed ailment, the Congress chief will lay the foundation at Gauchar in Chamoli district. Sources said railway minister Dinesh Trivedi would accompany Gandhi. Congress, which lost the last Uttarakhand polls, is likely to launch its poll campaign coinciding with the party chief's visit. BJP has attacked Congress for not inviting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the project. "If the UPA government and Congress had invited the PM, it would have been better," a BJP leader said, adding that the ruling party opposes Congress's move for inviting Gandhi. Congress leaders have rubbished the objections raised by BJP, arguing that Gandhi is UPA-II's chairperson and the chairperson of the National Advisory Council with Cabinet status. "The objections are rubbish. This is not the first time UPA chairperson is inaugurating any project," said a senior Congress leader. The much-delayed Rishikesh-Karanprayag project, which was included in the railway budget 2010-11 at an estimated cost of Rs 4295.30 crore, will bring about development, help stop migration from the hills and promote tourism in the state. The proposed 123-km project, which is likely to be completed in five years, was cleared this year.
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