NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a dig at Congress for always neglecting the development of northeast and its border areas. Highlighting the BJP government’s development work in the region in the last five years, he said that Congress would have taken at least 20 years to do the same work in northeast.
“Today, projects worth over Rs 55,000 crore have been unveiled in Itanagar. Congress would have taken 20 years to do what we have done in the last five years in the northeast,” he said at the ‘
Viksit Bharat Viksit North East
‘ programme in Arunachal Pradesh.
PM Modi
attacked the previous Congress-led UPA regime for terming the northeastern villages as the last ones. “Congress had neglected the border villages and termed it the last village. But for me, this is the first village and so we started the Vibrant Village Programme,” he said.
Emphasising on his government’s flagship programmes, the Prime Minister said that his guarantees are ‘pakki guarantees’. The entire northeast is witnessing how the ‘Modi ki Guarantee’ is working out, he said at the programme after inaugurating the strategic Sela Tunnel – the world’s longest bi-lane tunnel.
“In 2019, I had the opportunity to lay the foundation stone of Sela Tunnel, and see, it has been launched today! In 2019 itself, I had laid the foundation stone of Donyi Polo Airport, and today, this airport is providing excellent services. Aren’t these guarantees? These are the ‘pakki guarantees’,” he said.
The Sela Tunnel, built at a cost of about Rs 825 crore, is considered an engineering marvel. The project will not only provide a faster and more efficient transport route in the region but is of strategic importance to the country.
The Prime Minister said that the northeast, which was once ignored, is going to become a strong link in India’s trade, tourism and other relations with South Asia and East Asia.
“We are working for the development and progress of the Northeast in line with our vision of ‘Ashta Lakshmi’. The northeast is emerging as a strong corridor for harnessing trade and tourism ties with our partners in South Asia and East Asia,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, PM Modi ventured into an elephant safari at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
His journey began with an elephant safari in the Mihimukh area of the Central Kohora Range. This is the first-ever visit by any PM in the national park.