President signs off with LPG sop to poor in bastion

JANGIPUR (Murshidabad): On his last visit to Jangipur as President, Pranab Mukherjee handed over free LPG connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana on Saturday as the scheme for BPL families touched the 2.5-crore mark.
Sefina Bewa and Shanti Majhi were the first recipients of the scheme. Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan, local MLA and state minister Jakir Hossein, and local MP Abhijeet Mukherjee attended the programme at Jangipur Bhawan along with CPM, Congress and Trinamool panchayat members.
Unable to control his emotions, Mukherjee said: “I will not forget Jangipur.This area and its people helped remove my ‘rootless wanderer’ stigma. I will come here regularly and try to serve its people.” Mukherjee said: “The Prime Minister has taken a good initiative by connecting BPL families with LPG gas. I also support GST. Everybody here will benefit.”
Mukherjee, who won his first election from the constituency in 2004, was a Union minister up to 2012, holding the defence, external affairs and finance portfolios during this period.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to micro blooging site Twitter and said: “Ujjwala Yojana continues to expand its reach! Extremely delighted that today the number of beneficiaries crossed 2.5 crore.”
“I thank Rashtrapati Ji for the special gesture of handing over LPG connections to beneficiaries in Jangipur, West Bengal,” he said.
The PM also heaped praise on Pradhan and his team: I congratulate minister @dpradhanbjp and his entire team that has been working round the clock for the success of Ujjwala Yojana.”
Pradhan called the event “historic” and appreciated Mukherjee’s decision to choose Murshidabad, one of Bengal’s least developed regions, to mark the occasion.