Modi targets Jagan govt in Andhra, attacks Congress over Jharkhand ED raid

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election rally in Andhra Pradesh’s Rajahmundry on Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attacked chief minister Jangan Mohan Reddy led YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh, accusing it of derailing the welfare of people and drowning the state in debt.

Addressing an election rally at Vemagiri near Rajahmundry of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, Modi also asserted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would sweep the Lok Sabha elections as well as the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and herald a “Viksit Andhra” (developed Andhra) on the lines of “Viksit Bharat” (developed India).

“When Chandrababu Naidu (Telugu Desam Party president) was in power, this state was at the peak of its league. But the YSRCP government derailed all that progress. Instead of working for the welfare of the people, the YSRCP drowned the state in debt,” he said.

He said there was booming young talent in Andhra Pradesh, whose mettle had been recognised worldwide. “But under the YSRCP regime, it is just a dream, as the government had done zero in development, but promoted 100% corruption.

“The projects sanctioned by the central government have been delayed multiple times, only further derailing the welfare of the people,” he said, and assured that with the double engine government of the NDA, all projects which had been left incomplete, shall be completed.

Asking the people to be wary of the Congress, Modi said the country under its regime 10 years ago was associated with scams. “The Congress and I.N.D.I.A leaders often fume at ED (Enforcement Directorate). You know why? In Jharkhand, mountains of currency bundles have been recovered from the servant of the personal secretary of one of the Congress leaders,” he said.

He said the Congress had turned the homes of servants into an abode of black money so much that cash counting machines too got tired of counting the notes. All those who were caught with unaccounted cash were close to the first family of the Congress, he alleged. “When Modi holds them accountable for their crimes, they hurl abuses at him. But Modi doesn’t care about these bad words, he only cares about the poor,” he said.

Modi said as of now ED has caught hold of only ₹1.15 lakh crore worth property, but it would be much more, and he was consulting experts to unearth them.

“Modi has already returned ₹17 lakh crore which was stolen from the poor in the past. No poor individual shall be left cheated. That is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.

Modi alleged that in Andhra Pradesh, too, the YSRCP was running in full speed towards corruption. “These people came into power making false promises of a ban on liquor and the same people in the government are today actively involved in the liquor business. Andhra Pradesh today finds itself in the middle of a very big alcohol syndicate and the state is being governed by the sand and liquor mafia,” he said.

Taking a dig at Jagan’s ambitious plan of creating three capitals for the state, Modi said in the last five years, they couldn’t come up even with one capital. “The idea of three capitals was only to mask their plans of big corruption. The YSRCP government is only capable of managing corruption, not a state’s finances,” he said.

He also accused the YSRCP government of neglecting the Polavaram project, the lifeline of AP, though the Centre had allotted ₹15,000 crore for the same. The farmers are suffering due to lack of proper irrigation and are not getting remunerative prices for their agriculture produce, he said.

Modi explained how the Centre had launched various initiatives to develop Andhra, like Amaravati-Vijayawada road project, Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor, expansion of Rajahmundry airport and a south coast railway zone Visakhapatnam, among others.

The elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled to be held on May 13.

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