Congress compromised security, ignored development of Northeast: PM Modi in Arunachal
ITANAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the kind of work done by his government in the last five years in the Northeast, the Congress would have taken 20 years to do it.
The PM was addressing a public meeting in Arunachal Pradesh's Itanagar after unveiling development projects worth Rs 55,600 crore in the region.
The PM also lashed out on the Congress for compromising on border security and said that the party had ignored border villages in Arunachal Pradesh for over 60 years because it did not want to invest in a state with only two Lok Sabha seats.
“The Sela Tunnel could have been built a long time ago. The Congress ignored the border villages and left them to their fate,” the PM said.
“But for me, they are the country’s first villages. We started the Vibrant Village Programme. Road projects have been undertaken there,” he added.
The PM also said that when Congress was expected to build infrastructure in the border areas, it was allegedly engaged in corruption and it compromised the nation’s security.
“The Modi government does not do that. It keeps in mind necessity,” the PM said.
"The Northeast is going to become a strong link in India's trade, tourism and other relations with South Asia and East Asia.
Today, projects worth over Rs 55,000 crore have been unveiled here," he said.
"Congress would have taken 20 years to do what we have done in the last five years in the Northeast," he added.
The Prime Minister said that one can clearly see what "Modi's guarantee" is if he visits Arunachal Pradesh.
"The entire Northeast is watching how Modi's guarantee is working," he said.
Built at an altitude of 13,000 feet by the Border Roads Organisation under Project Vartak, the Sela Tunnel is a component of the Trans-Arunachal Highway system and the longest two-lane tunnel in the world at 13,000 feet. It will ensure an all-weather connectivity with the India-China border town of Tawang.
The project provides for two tunnels of 1,790 metres and 475 metres long. They cut through the Sela–Charbela ridge that separates the Tawang district from the West Kameng district.
The Sela Tunnel will help avoid the winter snowfalls on the Sela Pass and significantly cut down the distance and travel time between Dirang and Tawang. Road communication usually gets disrupted at Sela Pass during winter due to heavy snowfalls. The tunnels will now ensure that the 171 km road between Bomdila and Tawang remains accessible throughout the year.
The PM also said that as he was working for the development of the country, leaders of the opposition bloc INDIA were attacking him.
Confident about the BJP’s victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he said he would visit Sela during his third term and meet the locals there. He also said that the Sela Tunnel would improve the region’s connectivity and promote Arunachal’s tourism.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi visited the one-horned rhino fame Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage Site in Assam, and took took an elephant safari and a jeep safari.
(With inputs from PTI)
