Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Congress party was disintegrating across the country, including in Puducherry, due to its “dynastic leadership”.
Speaking at a public meeting organised by the BJP at Karaikal, Mr. Shah appealed to the electorate to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hands and exercise their franchise in favour of the BJP-led NDA in Puducherry in the upcoming election. Accusing former Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy of having indulged in “rampant corruption” during his term, Mr. Shah alleged that he served the Gandhi family instead of working for the people of Puducherry.
Though the Prime Minister wanted to make Puducherry a modern region and had sanctioned at least 115 schemes aimed at its development since 2014, the Congress government led by Mr. Narayanasamy, indulged in “petty politics”, fearing that the implementation of the schemes would not serve him or his party, Mr. Shah alleged.
Mr. Shah said the former Chief Minister “blatantly lied” to his leader, Rahul Gandhi, while translating the grievances of the people during an interaction recently.
Claiming that merit was seldom recognised in the Congress, Mr. Shah alleged that Mr. Narayanasamy was made the Chief Minister of the Union Territory, overlooking Mr. Namassivayam (who recently joined the BJP), only because Mr. Narayanasamy “fell at the feet of the Gandhi family”.
Asserting that the Centre had done a lot for Puducherry, Mr. Shah cited the allocation of ₹15,000 crore for executing various schemes. However, Mr. Narayanasamy failed to put the amount to good use, he added. The unemployment rate was high in Puducherry, Mr. Shah said, assuring that the NDA, if elected to power, would bring it down.
The Congress had promised to establish an Information Technology Park and an Electronics Park during the previous election, Mr. Shah said, seeking to know if these promises had been fulfilled.
The Centre brought Puducherry under the Udan scheme with a view to boosting tourism and providing air connectivity to Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It also implemented schemes in the fisheries sector, allocating ₹20,000 crore to augment infrastructure and provide employment to over 50 lakh people. Puducherry also benefited under this scheme, he said, adding that many fishermen had availed themselves of the ₹40 lakh subsidy given by the Centre for buying new mechanised boats to carry out deep sea fishing under the Blue Revolution Scheme.
The BJP government was keen on making Puducherry a modern state and make it best in business, education, tourism besides making it a spiritual hub. Mr. Amit Shah predicted the formation of a BJP-led NDA government in the aftermath of the upcoming election and said he had come this conclusion going by the inputs received from his partymen, the prevailing situation and his political experience.