Modi accuses Cong of abandoning difficult development works

Itanagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday alleged that the Congress has an “inherent habit” of abandoning any development work that is difficult, and this caused significant harm to the Northeast.

He made the statement after unveiling development works worth over Rs 5,100 crore in Arunachal Pradesh, among which were two mega hydropower projects.

Addressing the function, Modi hailed the GST reforms, stating that people received a “double bonanza” this festive season with the lower rates coming into effect on the first day of Navratri.

Criticising the Congress, he claimed that it overlooked Arunachal Pradesh

in terms of development, as the state has only two Lok Sabha seats.

The PM said he knew that the Northeast couldn’t be developed from Delhi, and so, he sent ministers and officers more frequently to the region, and himself came here more than 70 times.

“One inherent habit of the Congress is that they never take up development

work which is difficult to do; they abandon it. This habit of Congress caused significant harm to Arunachal Pradesh and the entire Northeast. In the hilly and forested areas, where development work was challenging, Congress would declare the regions backward and simply forget them,” he claimed.

Modi said areas once considered impossible for building roads now have modern highways.

“The Sela tunnel, which was once unthinkable, is now a proud identity of Arunachal. The Hollongi airport has a new terminal and has flights connecting directly to Delhi,” he said.

The PM said all these connectivity projects eased travelling and helped farmers send their produce to big markets.

“When I was given the opportunity to serve the nation in 2014, I resolved to free the country from the mindset of Congress. Our guiding principle is not the number of votes or seats in any state, but ‘nation first’,” he said.