Compare dynasty’s rule with NDA’s: PM
Modi predicts BJP victory in K’taka
Puducherry, Feb. 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the “one family” dynastic rule of the Congress for 48 years and said it should be compared with the achievements of the “development- oriented” NDA in the last four years.
“One family either directly or indirectly ruled the country for 48 years... For about 17 years our first Prime Minister ruled, and after that his daughter held the reigns for 14 years and following that her son was at the helm for five years,” he said.
Mr Modi, who was addressing a BJP- organised public meeting here, referred to the regimes of Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi without naming them.
“Between 2004 and 2014, the same family ran the government with remote control,” Mr Modi said, in an apparent reference to the Manmohan Singh- led UPA regime.
His comments come weeks after Congress president Rahul Gandhi had dared Mr Modi to spell out achievements of the NDA government instead of criticising his party.
“You will have to tell the country during the elections what you did in the last five years. It is going to be five years and you have not even opened your account,” Mr Gandhi had said making Mr Modi the focal point of his attack in public meetings in poll- bound
Karnataka.
On Sunday, Mr Modi said, “Intellectuals can debate the difference between what was gained and lost during the Congress regimes and what the BJP- led NDA has achieved in 48 months,” he said.
“We are talking about people’s development… ease of living for the common man,” he said.
In an obvious reference to his oft- repeated slogan “Congress- mukt Bharat”, Mr Modi said that the Congress would be left
with only the V. Narayanasamy government in Puducherry in the country, saying the BJP would win the coming Assembly elections in Karnataka and the Northeast.
“I want to congratulate the chief minister of Puducherry in advance because the Congress is going to exhibit him as a specimen after June,” he quipped predicting the defeat of the Congress in other states. He, however, did not refer to the Amarinder Singh- led Congress government in Punjab.
The jibe drew laughter from the large crowd that had gathered to listen to Mr Modi, who became the first Prime Minister to address a public meeting in this former French colony in 33 years. Rajiv Gandhi was the last Prime Minister to address a rally here in 1984.
Targeting the Congress government in Puducherry, Mr Modi said the Union Territory had poor infrastructure and was a victim of “Congress culture”.
He claimed Puducherry had poor infrastructure and sectors such as transport and cooperation were in a shambles.
“The Congress has failed on all fronts in Puducherry,” he said, recalling the glorious history of the former French colony.
He also came down on the Puducherry government for not holding civic polls for years together while the “party had been making tall claims from Delhi that it is the champion of democracy and rights of the people”.
Mr Modi also highlighted the NDA government’s flagship schemes like Mudhra Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, Udan scheme, Ayushman Bharath Scheme and , the Sagarmala project.
Mr Modi also visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry to join its 50th- anniversary celebrations. The Prime Minister, after reaching the ashram, paid floral tributes at the memorial of Aurobindo, a spiritual leader, and also meditated for few minutes.
Praising Sri Aurobindo for his relentless efforts towards the welfare of the nation and mankind, PM Modi, in his address at the ashram said, “It is important today to remember the vast extent of action and thought of Sri Aurobindo. A man of action, a philosopher, a poet, there were so many facets to his character. And each of them was dedicated to the good of the nation and humanity.”
The Prime Minister added, “Auroville has brought together men and women, young and old, cutting across boundaries and identities. I understand that Auroville’s Charter was hand- written in French by the Divine Mother herself. According to the Charter, the Mother set five high principles for Auroville.”