DONNING A NEW HAT
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of several development projects in Itanagar on Saturday. He laid the foundation stones of projects worth over ~4,000 crore and said his government was giving a lot of importance to improve connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh. Terming the state ‘pride’ of the country, Modi said it was the duty of the government to develop the state at any cost.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured the people of Assam and the Northeast that the Citizenship Bill will in no way cause harm to their interests.
Addressing a rally in Changsari, the constituency of Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, he said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is committed to protecting the language, culture, resources, hopes and aspirations of the people of Assam and the Northeast.
“It is a national commitment to the people of the Northeast, that they will not be harmed in any way. Citizenship will be only granted after due investigation and recommendation of the state governments,” Modi said.
It must be understood there is a difference between those who forcefully entered the country, and those who were “forced to flee their homes to save their lives due to their faith. Both are not the same”, he asserted.
“We are committed to provide shelter to those who are minorities in neighbouring countries, and had to leave everything due to the atrocities inflicted on them. They have come to our country and embraced the idea and ethos of India,” he said.
Modi also said the BJP is committed to implementing the 36-year-old Assam Accord, and a committee set up on the implementation of its Clause 6 is a step in that direction.
The government wants to make Assam the oil and gas hub of the country, and in the last four years projects worth ~14,000 crore have been completed, he said.
He said the previous governments "failed" to honour these icons and it was the BJP government which took the initiative of conferring the Bharat Ratna on Assam's first chief minister Gopinath Bordoloi during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's term and now to music legend Hazarika.
Prior to the rally, the prime minister laid the foundation stone of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to be set up at Changsari.
Later in the day, Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth over ~4,000 crore in Arunachal Pradesh’s capital Itanagar. He said his government was giving a lot of importance to improve connectivity in the sensitive border state.
“Arunachal is a symbol of faith for the country as it gives us strength. The people used to greet each other with 'Jai Hind' and I salute the people for their patriotism," the prime minister said.
“In the past 55 months, I have paid several visits to Arunachal Pradesh, and today (Saturday) inaugurated and laid foundation of projects worth over ~4,000 crore,” he said.
At the same event, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu claimed foreign investments were eluding the sensitive border state, owing to objections raised by a neighbour, a reference to China, and urged the central government to address the issue.
“Arunachal Pradesh has a lot of potential. But due to objection of the neighbouring country, foreign investment is not coming,” Khandu said.
In Tripura, the PM hit out at the Opposition, saying the main job of the mahamilawatwalas is to deride him, and it seems they were all competing in an Olympics of hurling abuses at him.
“The job of the mahamilawatwalas is only to heap abuses on Modi. It is as if an Olympics is on to deride Modi,” he said in a rally at Agartala, the state capital.
“The results of the coming Lok Sabha elections will show what it takes to lie to the people,” Modi said.
Hitting out at the Left Front without naming it, he said it was not interested in doing anything for the unorganised sector, or the farmers, when it was in power in the state.
“Now, for the first time in Tripura, under the BJP government, paddy is being procured at the minimum support price. Besides, the recommendation of the Seventh Pay Commission has been implemented,” he said.