Former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to mislead the people of the Union Territory.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, he said Mr. Modi, during his visit to Puducherry on Thursday, gave the people a wrong impression that the Centre had invested in projects worth ₹4,000 crore.
He said that of the ₹2,426 crore Sattanathapuram-Nagapattinam four-lane road work, which the Prime Minister inaugurated, only 2% passed through the Karaikal region. The project was approved by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2014.
The Mairie Building, inaugurated by the Prime Minister, was renovated using funds sanctioned by the World Bank. The construction of a JIPMER building at Karaikal and a minor port at Puducherry were sanctioned four years ago by the Centre on the request of the territorial administration, he said. “He completely tried to mislead the people by making it look as if all these were new projects. Tell us what the role of the Centre was in the renovation of the Mairie Building? The foundation was laid by our government, and former Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi did not allow us to inaugurate the building. No new projects were announced by the Prime Minister during his visit,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s accusation of “non-performance” against his government was unfounded as the government was not allowed to execute its responsibilities by Ms. Bedi, he said.
“As many as 52 Cabinet decisions were blocked or referred to the Centre by Ms. Bedi. We made a complaint against her to the Prime Minister three years ago. The Centre did not act on our complaint till recently. The government was able to function for the last four-and-a-half years with all limitations,” he said.
PCC chief A.V Subramanian, who was also present, said the Congress would start accepting applications from aspiring candidates for the Assembly election on February 27.