“Political parties that adopt short-term tactics are the taxpayers’ greatest enemy. Those whose only goal is to rise to power, making false promises to take power, will never be able to build a nation. At a time when the nation is working to achieve its goals over the next 25 years, some political parties want to ruin the economy for their gains,” he said in Nagpur, while inaugurating 11 infrastructure projects for Nagpur and Vidarbha.
The statement — seen in the context of the debate over the freebies, or ‘revdi cultue’ as the prime minister had termed them — comes just days after election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where Congress and AAP had promised the return of the old pension scheme and leased or free energy was the other dominant theme during the campaign.
Citing South Korea’s and Singapore’s investment in infrastructure construction, Modi he has criticized previous regimes in India for wasting taxpayers’ money. “During the tenure of previous governments, taxes collected by honest taxpayers were wasted on corruption or used for vote bank policy. The need of the hour is to use every paisa to build a bright future for the youth. Today I am calling on young people, on all taxpayers, to expose such selfish politicians and political parties.
“The bad policies of the political parties, which follow an approach of ‘aamdani atthanni, kharcha rupaiya (allow high expenditures with low incomes)’, make the economy hollow. We have witnessed how some economies have been destroyed because of such an approach. We have to save India from such a directionless approach. I am happy that the country is seeing stable development and receiving huge support from the common man,” she said, calling for sustainable development.
Reflecting on his campaign speeches in Gujarat, Modi listed the development works of the ‘dual engine’ government in Maharashtra. He said 11 projects were part of a holistic view of infrastructure in the state. “These projects worth over Rs 75,000 crore are coming at a time when India is celebrating 75 years of independence. All this will give a new direction to the development of the state. It is proof of how fast the ‘dual engine’ of government in the State and in the Center is working,” the prime minister said.
He also said that the Center and the state must work together. “The path to creating a developed nation is combined power. The mantra for developing India is the development of states. If we limit development we also limit opportunities, this has been our experience in the past”.
Modi said his government has allowed those engaged in animal husbandry to take advantage of the Kisan credit card or street vendors to tap into bank credit through a special loan scheme.
Explaining his vision of holistic development, the prime minister said that he has created infrastructures in the health sector such as the Ayushman Bharat program and AIIMS, as well as religious ones such as the Kashi Vishwanath and Mahakal (Ujjain) corridors, and the development of Kedarnath and Pandharpur.
Taking a dig at previous Congress and NCP governments in Maharashtra, Modi said that projects where infrastructure lacked human contact ended up burdening the exchequer. “A perfect example of this is the Gosikhurd project. Its foundation stone was laid about 35 years ago when its cost was Rs 400 crore. Today, its cost has soared to over Rs 18,000 crore mainly due to administrative apathy. When our two-engined government took over, we accelerated the project and I’m happy that the dam was filled to capacity for the first time. It will benefit thousands of farmers in Vidarbha. When we limit education and development, opportunities have diminished and talent hasn’t had a chance to shine.
