Congress and drought are twins: Modi

Barmer (Rajasthan), Jan 16 : In a fierce attack on the Congress party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that drought and the Congress are “twins” and accused the party of “fooling people by making false promises”.

“Congress and drought are twins. No matter where Congress goes, drought always follows,” Modi said while addressing the public in Pachpadra in Barmer, during a function to lay the foundation stone of the much-awaited Rajasthan Refinery Project.

Modi’s attack on the Congress comes in the wake of a letter written by former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in which he had questioned why the Rajasthan Refinery’s foundation-laying ceremony was being held for the second time when it was already done by then Congress president Sonia Gandhi four years back.

Modi said: “Congress party has misled people by simply laying foundation stones for projects and has done nothing for the poor. We cannot mislead people by installing stones. As in 2022 we complete 75 years of independence, we will ensure that our refinery starts functioning in the same year,” Modi said.

He took a dig at the Congress, saying: “We don’t want people to come and ask us that after installing the stone why you did not take action on implementing the same.”

He appreciated the efforts of Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje who initiated the process to turn the project into reality.

Modi began his address saying ‘Khamma ghani’ – a greeting in Marwari language – and went into an aggressive mode where he attacked Congress and its working on several occasions.

He said that Congress has the tendency of fooling people by making false promises, and that the OROP scheme could have never been implemented successfully if the Congress’ plans and projections were kept in mind.

“They misled us as well by allotting funds worth Rs 500 crore for OROP in the budget. However, after calculations, the entire costing for the OROP came to over Rs 12,000 crore. We took the help of Army officers in this context and ensured that Rs 10,004 crore is deposited into their account. The remaining shall also be deposited soon,” he assured.

Continuing his attacking mode, Modi said “When we assumed office, one of the first things we did was to see what work has been done on promises made earlier in the Railway Budget. Just for applause in Parliament, some people made promises they could never keep. We were determined to end that culture of misleading,” said Modi, adding that “we had to close the practice of calling the Railway Budget each year as it focussed on making false promises.”

Modi said that 1,500 policies planned by the erstwhile government “were seen only on paper and there was no planning chalked out for their implementation”.

Urging the country to work in unison, he said that this is a time for ‘Sankalp se Siddhi’. “We must focus on our aims and work towards achieving them by 2022, when we mark 75 years of freedom,” he added.

Recalling the times when getting an LPG connection was a challenge, he said people used to go to MPs for a letter recommending a gas cylinder. “Many MPs sold coupons in black. It was not acceptable to me that women of India should suffer due to lack of cooking gas facilities,” he said.

Targetting Congress, he said “Garibi Hatao was an attractive slogan for them. They nationalized the banks but the doors of the banks were never allowed to be opened for the poor. Jan Dhan Yojana changed such parameters and the poor got access to banking facilities.”

Over 32 crore people opened their accounts in the Jan Dhan bank accounts, he said.

He praised the efforts of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in tackling the drought crisis during both her terms. “It is in contrast to the opposition in the state, whose poor drought management in Rajasthan is widely known,” Modi said, in a dig at the Congress.

Modi expressed his happiness to be in Rajasthan, “especially for a project that will bring happiness and prosperity to the lives of many”. He thanked Dharmendra Pradhan and Vasundhara Raje for their “untiring efforts to make this project a success”.

He said the project will change the face of Rajasthan in next five years as Barmer will emerge as an industrial hub which will create infinite job opportunities for people of the state.

Modi also praised former Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who according to him was the face behind modern Rajasthan. “This man was a visionary who first envisioned the dream of setting up this refinery,” he said.

IANS