Glorification of one family belittled other patriots: Modi

INDORE/ RAJGARH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a string of development projects in Madhya Pradesh, and used the events as a launchpad to attack the Congress five months ahead of assembly election.
Remembering Jana Sangh founder and BJP ideologue SP Mukherjee on his death anniversary, the PM said: “Yeh is desh ka durbhagya raha hai ki ek parivar ka mahima mandan karne ke liye, desh ke anek saputon ko aur unke yogdanon ko chhota kar diya gaya (It is unfortunate that to glorify one family, the efforts of many patriots of the country were belittled).”

In Rajgarh, Modi dedicated the Rs 3,866 crore Mohanpura major irrigation project and three micro-irrigation projects in Rajgarh. And in Indore, he remotely inaugurated urban development projects across the state — including houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and drinking water schemes, solid waste management, sanitation, transportation and landscape projects for urban areas. He also distributed the Swachh Survekshan-2018 Awards, and launched the Swachh Survekshan-2018 results dashboard.

Amid cheers from a 1-lakh-plus crowd in the Congress bastion of Rajgarh, the PM launched a scathing attack on the main opposition party, saying it ruled Madhya Pradesh for several years but “never thought of development, except for promoting a single family”. “People have gathered in such huge numbers here. It shows their trust in BJP, and makes it clear that people who are spreading lies and confusion are unaware of ground realities,” Modi told said.

He praised the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for its development initiatives and said it had worked to restore the lost glory of Madhya Pradesh, which was tagged a ‘bimaru’ (laggard) state.

Congress had neglected development in both urban and rural areas, the PMN alleged. “What we have achieved in four years, it would have taken the previous UPA regime 20 years,” he said in Indore to a packed house at Nehru Stadium.

After inaugurating projects worth over Rs 4701 crore across Madhya Pradesh, Modi said: “Villages are the soul, while cities are energy centres. The development of civic amenities and infrastructure in cities did not match the growth in population. Under Congress rule, cities remained neglected.”

The approach towards urban governance changed after BJP came to power, he asserted, referring to schemes like Swachh Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY), Smart City and AMRUT. “This approach has laid the foundation of a new India,” he said, adding that under PMAY, the NDA government built three times more houses in four years than the 10 years of Congress-led UPA rule.

He alleged that development funds released by the Congress governments never reached beneficiaries. “Congress never felt ashamed and did not trust the strength of people. Our government has provided a transparent and corruption-free administration and people are experiencing its results,” he said. Over 4 crore women in the country have been provided free LPG, 40 lakh of them in MP, he said.

The BJP government will spend Rs 70,000 crore on micro-irrigation, the PM promised, assuring all help to the MP government from the Centre. The irrigation project includes dam and a canal system that will benefit 727 villages on 1.34 lakh hectares.

The PM lauded Indore for “showing the country and the world” how change in civic sense can create a clean environment. Indore’s achievement in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has shut detractors, who made fun of it, he said. Under the clean India campaign, 2,300 cities in 18 states have been declared ODF (open defecation-free) and on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi next year, the dream of a Swachh Bharat will be fulfilled, he said.