Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the first multi-modal terminal on the Ganga and two major national highways in his constituency of Varanasi.

The multi-modal terminal is part of the Central government’s Jal Marg Vikas Project that is being developed in collaboration with the World Bank. The project aims to develop the stretch of River Ganga between Varanasi to Haldia for navigation of large vessels.

The prime minister claimed that this is the first time since Independence that a river is being used as a business and trade route. “People joked when I first proposed to use the river as a trade route, but when the container came here from Kolkata, everyone’s mouth is closed,” Modi said.

The Jal Marg Vikas Project includes two multi-modal terminals at Sahibganj and Haldia, an integrated vessel repair and maintenance facility and a river information system among other projects.

The prime minister inaugurated two sewage infrastructure projects worth Rs 425.41 crore in Varanasi and laid the foundation stone for another development initiative worth Rs 72.91 crore for Ramnagar, PTI reported. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath thanked for Modi for initiating the development projects.

Modi criticises Gandhis at rally in Chhattisgarh

Earlier in the day, the prime minister took a jibe at Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi for criticising the government’s policies, including that of demonetisation. “The mother-son duo who are out on bail are giving me a certificate and asking from me the benefits of demonetisation,” Modi said, according to NDTV. “Those who are out on bail are distributing certificates of honesty...They forget that it was due [to] demonetisation that they had to seek bail.”

Modi was addressing an election rally in Bilaspur ahead of the second phase of polling in the state on November 20.

Modi’s jibe was an apparent reference to the National Herald case, in which the Gandhis and several other Congress leaders are accused. They are currently out on bail. In 2015, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy’s filed a complaint suggesting that the Gandhis provided an interest free loan of of Rs 90.25 crore to Associated Journals Limited, which published the National Herald newspaper, and transferred the debt to a company called Young India Limited for Rs 50 lakh. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each own a 38% stake in YIL.