Gurugram, Nov 19 (IANS): Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khatttar on Monday said the inauguration of the KMP Expressway and extension of Faridabad Metro Rail by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the beginning of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway and the metro link was inaugurated during the 'Jan Vikas Rally' organised in Sultanpur near Gurugram.

Addressing the gathering, Khattar said Modi started his last Lok Sabha election campaign in 2013 from Haryana's Rewari on September 15, a few days after Modi was declared as the Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate.

The Haryana Chief Minister said the beginning of the election campaign from south Haryana was lucky for everyone including the nation and the BJP.

Khattar said he was sure the BJP will win as much as 350 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general elections.

Addressing the public, Modi said Haryana has been the land of brave soldiers and martyrs.

Remembering the martyrs of 1962 Rezang La, a mountain pass on the south-eastern approach to Chushul Valley in Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, with China, Modi termed Haryana as a land of people having courage, morale and sense.

Addressing the crowd during his speech, Gurugram MP and Minister of State (MoS) in the Modi cabinet, Rao Inderjit Singh, urged the Prime Minister to start the Lok Sabha campaign from south Haryana as he fulfilled all the promises made to the ex-servicemen including that of 'One Rank One Pension' (OROP) during his Rewari speech in 2013.

Singh said after implementation of OROP, the Central government has been bearing a financial cost Rs 12,000 crore extra per annum.