PM flags off Vande Bharat Express from Una in Himachal to New Delhi

Una/Chamba (HP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the past governments of not providing facilities that were available to people elsewhere in the world even in the previous century and in his home state Gujarat a few years back.

Ahead of the assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh by the year-end, he launched a slew of development projects in Una and Chamba. In Una, Modi flagged off a Vande Bharat Express, the fourth train in the series.

Addressing public meetings, he hoped that the state will break the trend of electing different parties every election.

Modi also stressed on the benefits of the "double-engine" government, a reference to the BJP being in power both in Himachal Pradesh and at the Centre.

"We will provide you facilities of the 20th as well as the 21st centuries," he said, addressing a rally at the Indira Gandhi stadium in Una.

"Our government is fulfilling the aspirations of 21st-century India. New India is overcoming challenges of the past and growing rapidly," Modi added.

"Earlier governments at the Centre and in the state failed to understand your needs. My government is not only fulfilling the needs of the people, but is doing it with full strength," he said.

Modi also hit out at the opposition, saying 'Dev Bhoomi' Himachal has the grace of nature but previous governments did not work to fill the development gap. "After coming to power, we not only filled that gap but also wrote a new chapter of development," he said.

In an apparent reference to the "double-engine"government, Modi said earlier, Himachal BJP chief ministers PK Dhumal and Shanta Kumar had to go to Delhi with BJP workers to seek approval for even small projects.

Now, he added, the chief minister goes to Delhi to inform about the completion of projects.

Modi recalled a saying that the youth and the water in the hills is of little use locally, a reference to migration and the flow of water downhill. The prime minister said his government has changed the proverb.

He launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-III in Chamba to upgrade 3,125 km of rural roads, saying the government wants to build roads in every village of the state.

So far, the double-engine government of the BJP has built 12,000 km of rural roads in eight years in Himachal Pradesh, Modi said, adding that several new villages will be connected with under the scheme.

More than Rs 420 crore has been sanctioned by the central government under this phase of the PMGSY-III for upgrading 440 km of rural roads in 15 border and far-flung blocks of the state.

Modi further said the BJP's double-engine government has made domestic gas connections available for every home. Hundred per cent piped water coverage has been made in tribal areas of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur under the 'Har Ghar Jal Yojna', he said.