Modi Slams Congress, Unveils Rs 5,100 cr Projects in Itanagar

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Congress’ mindset of ignoring and abandoning challenging areas across the country had caused immense damage to Arunachal Pradesh and the entire Northeast.

Addressing a public rally in Itanagar, Mr Modi attacked the Congress Party, alleging: “One inherent habit of the Congress is that they never take up challenging work which may be difficult to execute. They prefer to abandon such challenging work. This Congress mindset has caused immense harm to Arunachal Pradesh and the Northeast as well.

He noted that in hilly and forested areas, where development work was challenging, the Congress declared them as backward districts. The PM said: “We changed the trend and started addressing these remote districts as aspirational districts and the ‘last village’ term for border villages of the Congress era was replaced and treated as the ‘first village’ of the country.”

Reiterating that those who were running the country from New Delhi at that time often ignored most of the remote challenging areas of the county, including Arunachal, Mr Modi 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 he himself came here more than 70 times.

Mr Modi regretted that the border villages were neglected by successive Congress governments, leading to the migration of people from these areas. He said the Congress also overlooked Arunachal Pradesh, as it has only two Lok Sabha seats. “When I was given the opportunity to serve the nation in 2014, I resolved to free the country from this mindset of the Congress. Our guiding principle is not the number of votes or seats in any state, but ‘nation first’. Our only mantra is ‘Nagrik Devo Bhava’ (the citizen is God),” he said.

Amid thunderous applause by the crowd, the PM said: “Modi worships those whom no one has ever asked about. That is why Arunachal Pradesh, which was neglected during Congress rule, has since 2014 become a centre of developmental priority.”

Alleging that the earlier Congress government kept increasing taxes even as everything got more expensive, the PM said that with the launch of GST reforms on the first day of Navratri, people will receive a “double bonanza” this festive season. “Today, Next-Generation GST reforms have been implemented across the country, and the GST ‘Bachat Utsav’ has begun. During the season of festivals, the people have received a double bonanza,” he said. “The GST reforms will reduce the kitchen budget, helping women,” he added.

Meanwhile, from Arunachal, the Prime Minister flew to Agartala, the capital of Tripura, where he was to inaugurate the redeveloped Tripureswari temple in the state’s Gomati district. From the airport, Mr Modi left for Palatana in Udaipur by a helicopter, from where he will go to the temple by road, officials said. Mr Modi was also scheduled to offer prayers at the 500-year-old temple.

The Prime Minister unveiled infrastructure projects worth Rs 5,125.37 crores in Arunachal Pradesh. Just before addressing the gathering at Indira Gandhi Park in Itanagar, he virtually laid the foundation stones for two major hydropower projects in Shi Yomi district, and a convention centre in Tawang.

The Tato-I project, with a capacity of 186 mw, will be developed jointly by the Arunachal Pradesh government and the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) at Rs 1,750 crores. It is expected to generate around 802 million units of electricity annually.

The 240-mw Heo project will also be developed by the state government and NEEPCO at Rs 1,939 crores. It is expected to produce 1,000 million units of electricity each year.

These projects, to be developed on the Yarjep river, are part of a larger effort to expand Arunachal Pradesh’s hydroelectric capacity, contributing significantly to regional energy security, officials said.

Modi also laid the foundation stone for a convention centre in Tawang, to be built under the PM-DevINE scheme at Rs 145.37 crores. With a capacity to host over 1,500 people, it will meet global standards and support the tourism and cultural potential of the region, they said.

The PM also launched several other infrastructure projects worth over Rs 1,290 crores, catering to various sectors, including connectivity, health and fire safety.

Arunachal Pradesh governor K.T. Parnaik, chief minister Pema Khandu and Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju were present at the programme.