Congress would have taken 20 years to do what we did in five: PM Modi in North-East

Animesh Singh

New Delhi, March 9

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched an all-out attack on the Opposition during events in Assam’s Jorhat, Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar and West Bengal’s Siliguri. He said the Congress would have taken 20 years to do the kind of development work executed by his government in the last five years in the North-East.

He inaugurated development projects worth Rs 56,000 crore in the three states during the tour.

At an event in Itanagar, PM Modi attacked the Congress and its allies, saying instead of developing modern infrastructure alongside border areas, they remained embroiled in scandals.

“They neglected the development of our border areas and villages, jeopardising the security of our nation. They kept the border regions underdeveloped and weakened our own armed forces. This is the work culture of the Congress. Such policies define their approach and conduct,” he said.

“The North-East is going to become a strong link in India’s trade, tourism and other relations with South Asia and East Asia. The Congress would have taken 20 years to do what we have done in the last five years in the North-East,” PM Modi said.

Addressing a function in Jorhat, the PM asserted that the development of North-East was crucial to fulfilling the objective of ‘Viksit Bharat’. He said he considered the entire North-Eastern region his family.

Accusing the previous Congress regimes in Assam and other North-Eastern states of ignoring the region for decades, the Prime Minister alleged that the “insensitive and unplanned conservation strategy” of the previous government led to poaching in the Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“As many as 27 rhinos were killed in 2013, but poaching incidents came down to zero in 2022 due to the NDA government’s policies,” he said.

Attacking the TMC in West Bengal over instances of violence against women in Sandeshkhali, the Prime Minister said the whole country was talking about what TMC leaders did to poor, Dalit and Adivasi women in Sandeshkhali. “The TMC has always oppressed women and stolen the hard-earned money of the poor,” he said at a programme in Siliguri.

He said under Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal was struggling for basic amenities. “The road to oust the corrupt TMC government will open through the Lok Sabha elections. I have seen mothers of our country struggling for basic amenities. That is why I lay stress on sanitation, free electricity, bank accounts and tap water to make the lives of our mothers and sisters easier. But here, first the Left Front and then the TMC governments ignored the basic needs of the people of the state,” he said.