In his first visit to his Varanasi constituency after the BJP won the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated the Akshaya Patra midday meal kitchen here.

During his visit, Modi will launch and lay foundation stone for development projects worth Rs 1,774 crore focused on improving infrastructure and ease of living, officials said.

The kitchen at the LT College has a capacity of cooking midday meals for around 1 lakh students, they said.

Reacting to the launch, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the kitchens should be started at all 11 places proposed during the SP regime.

“At the time of SP’s rule, the Akshaya Patra Yojana was started for providing nutritious and hot food to students. In the last five years, the BJP government kept it closed. But, now fearing the anger of students and the youth, it is compelled to start this scheme,” Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.