Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday kick-started the Bharatiya Janata Party’s poll campaign in Himachal Pradesh with a rally in Bilaspur, where he laid the foundation stone of a Rs 1,350-crore All India Institute of Medical Sciences project, The Indian Express reported. Himachal Pradesh is scheduled to go to polls later this year.

The prime minister has also laid the foundation stone for an Indian Institute of Information Technology at Una and a steel processing plant in Kangra district via video conference from Bilaspur.

“The opening of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Himachal Pradesh has a lot of benefits for people,” ANI quoted the prime minister as saying. Modi said that the Centre would invest Rs 15,000 crore for 13 development projects in Himachal Pradesh.

The prime minister also spoke about the One Rank One Pension scheme. The pension scheme for ex-servicemen was reinstated in September 2015 after 43 years. However, the veterans had said the government’s version had “seven serious shortcomings”, which would nullify the definition of scheme. “I had announced during the Mandi rally [in 2016] that we will give one rank one pension,” said Modi. “We have disbursed three out of four installments that has benefited ex-servicemen. Close to Rs 8,500 crore has been distributed.”

Modi hit out at the ruling Congress government, saying it is a “jamaanati sarkar” in the state. The BJP has been focusing on Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who is facing inquiry from the Central Bureau of Investigation in a disproportionate assets case.

Modi’s rally in Himachal Pradesh is important for his party, as the BJP had lost in the 2012 polls because of infighting among its leaders, the Hindustan Times reported. This time, the BJP has set a target of 50-plus for itself in the 68-seat Assembly. The BJP’s choice of venue for the rally was also crucial. Bilaspur happens to be the hometown of Union Health Minister JP Nadda, who is believed to be one of the chief ministerial aspirants, The Indian Express reported.