Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 11: The prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday slammed the opposition parties and their leaders for, what he said, adopting “short-cut politics” to come to power and said such parties and people were the biggest enemies of the country. He exhorted the taxpayers to expose such politicos who were trying to sabotage the economy for their selfish purposes.
“A country cannot move ahead by shortcuts. There is a disposition among certain parties to indulge in short-cut politics for selfish ends. Parties who adopt this shortcut are the country’s biggest enemies whose aim is to merely come to power by making hollow promises,” Modi said at the inauguration of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Nagpur.
Later in Goa while inaugurating the Manohar Parrikar airport, the prime minister had a swipe at the Congress government claiming that the previous government at the centre spent money on infrastructure that were not required at all. “This was a long-standing demand of the people of Goa that the state needs another airport. The planning was done during Atalji’s (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) government. But there was no progress after that. In 2016, we laid the foundation stone and now after the challenge of the Covid pandemic, the airport is ready,” PM Modi said.
He alleged that the Congress government did not think of the middle-class people and did not invest much in the development of airports. “Travelling on an airplane was a luxury in the previous government,” PM Modi said adding that until 2014, there were only 70 airports in the country — mostly in large cities. In the last eight years, 72 airports were developed, PM Modi added.
“Under PM Modi’s leadership, we are now inaugurating several airports in a year whereas during the regime of the previous government, one or half projects used to get completed in a year,” Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said. “This proves the strength of the double-engine government,” the minister said adding that this is also the first time that one city is getting two airports.
Hitting out at the non-BJP governments, Mr. Modi alleged that earlier governments had sacrificed taxpayers’ money for the sake of vote-bank politics and corruption. Modi launched and inaugurated a slew of development projects worth ₹75,000 crores in Maharashtra, notably the first phase of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway project named after late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
Phase I of the Mumbai-Nagpur Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Expressway is a 520-km stretch of road connecting Nagpur with the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district. While the Samruddhi Expressway has long been a pet project of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (who had given it impetus when he was CM), the foundation stone of the AIIMS facility had been laid by Modi in 2017.
Both projects are said to be key in the development of the Vidarbha region in the near future besides helping to cement the BJP’s political hold over their bastion in Maharashtra.
“The launch of projects today is evidence of the fast pace with which the double-engine government [Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP] is working in Maharashtra. These projects give a holistic vision of infrastructure in the State. The Samruddhi Expressway will link 24 districts in the state. This will give a boost to the economic prospects of farmers, rise to new industries besides creating new avenues for employment,” Modi said, remarking that the launch and inauguration of development projects worth Rs. 75,000 crore would give new direction and energy for progress and prosperity of Maharashtra.
The timing of the inauguration of the Expressway named after Bal Thackeray (Uddhav Thackeray’s father) is also significant given that Mr. Shinde and Mr. Uddhav Thackeray are embroiled in a bitter wrangle over the legacy of the divided Shiv Sena ahead of the high-stakes Mumbai civic body poll or BMC.
Besides inaugurating the expressway, Mr. Modi flagged off the sixth Vande Bharat Express from Nagpur and the first phase of the Nagpur Metro rail project. He also laid the foundation stone of Phase II of the metro project and took a ride in the metro train between Zero Mile Freedom Park and Khapri stations with some students.
Stressing the need for a long-term vision for regional development, Modi, without naming, took pot-shots at the “inefficacy” of the erstwhile Congress-NCP governments in the State by alluding to massive cost overruns — from ₹400 crore to ₹18,000 crore — of the Gosikhurd dam in Bhandara district.
“India cannot afford to lose the opportunity offered by the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ today. At one time in the recent past, even South Korea was a poor country and Singapore was an ordinary island nation but they changed their fortunes owing to the adoption of superior infrastructure. These countries did not resort to ‘shortcut’ politics by looting their taxpayer’s money,” said the PM, castigating the “anti-development” and “vote bank” policies of opposition parties.
Mr. Modi’s inauguration of the projects comes at a time when the Shinde-Fadnavis government has been facing flak from the opposition MVA for ‘losing’ big-ticket projects like Vedanta-Foxconn to neighbouring Gujarat. In their respective speeches, both Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis targeted Mr. Thackeray’s Sena.
Remarking that the Samruddhi Expressway was not just a highway but a game-changer that would be known as Maharashtra’s lifeline, Mr. Shinde said that its road quality was even better than Germany’s autobahns.
Later inaugurating the Mopa international airport in Goa, Modi said it would give a massive boost to the air connectivity in the country. About 35 km from Panaji, the new international airport will soon become functional as IndiGo and GoFirst have already announced plans to launch 168 and 42 flights, respectively, for the airport next months. Indigo said it will be the airline’s largest-ever new station launch and will immediately connect New Goa International Airport to eight cities across India.
“In the last eight years, whenever I got the opportunity to come amid you, I always said that I will return your love with full interest. This airport is an attempt to return the love that I received from you. I am so happy that the airport is named after Goa ke ladle, late Manohar Parrikar,” Modi said.
