Pandhurna (MP), Apr 13 (PTI) Union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday alleged the Congress had left the country in bad shape with empty coffers before 2014 and is contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for “abki baar, 40 paar” whereas the BJP is aiming for over 400 seats.
During his visit to Madhya Pradesh’s Pandhurna district, a part of the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat, Thakur termed the AAP as the “most dishonest party” and alleged Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal “seeped in corruption”.
The Union minister also slammed Chhindwara MP Nakul Nath who “works for 12 days and enjoys five years”, saying he would either become a hit wicket or clean-bowled by voters in the upcoming elections.
Addressing a gathering of new voters in Pandhurna, Thakur said the Narendra Modi government has built a strong foundation of new India in the last decade since 2014.
“Ten years have passed since the Congress left the country battered with empty coffers. They played appeasement politics. (After coming to power), PM Modi worked hard and led the country to this position. The foundation of a new and strong India has been laid. The building of a developed India is yet to be built,” Thakur told the gathering.
He said India has emerged as the world’s third-largest start-up ecosystem thanks to the policies of the Modi government.
Even the budget for sports went up from Rs 800 crore to Rs 3,300 crore in the last decade, he added.
“When Congress was in power for ten years (2004-14), the sports infrastructure of Rs 682 crore was developed. But the Modi government developed sports infrastructure of Rs 3,500 crore in ten years,” the Union minister for Information & Broadcasting and Sports said.
Under the 60-year rule of Congress, the country had only 74 airports but a similar number of new airports were developed during the last ten years only, he said.
“There were 3.20 lakh kilometres of rural roads in 2014 but the Modi government constructed 3.75 lakh kilometres of rural roads since 2014. Similarly, the national highway network in 2014 was 96,000 kilometres but the BJP government built 54,000 km of new national highway in the last decade,” Thakur added.
The number of cities with metro facilities rose from just five in 2014 to 20 during this period so is the number of medical colleges, which went up to 706 from 384 while the count of MBBS seats increased to 1.01 lakh from 51,000, the Union minister said.
Thakur said India is now the fifth largest economy in the world, rising from the tenth position in 2014.
Thakur alleged that Chhindwara lagged in development due to the local MP.
Nakul Nath, son of Congress veteran Kamal Nath, is seeking a second term in Lok Sabha from pocketborough Chhindwara, which will vote on April 19.
The 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in MP will go to polls in four phases between April 19 and May 13 and votes will be counted on June 4. Chhindwara will vote in the first phase.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Thakur dubbed the AAP the most dishonest political party.
“It is leading the table in telling lies. If there is an utterly dishonest person it is Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal,” said the Union minister when asked about the Aam Aadmi Party’s allegation that the BJP was misusing the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
He said Kejriwal had entered politics to end corruption but “it appears he is seeped in corruption”.
Asked how the BJP plans to end the dominance of Kamal Nath in Chhindwara, Thakur said the Congress ruled the country for 60 years but has now run out of leaders.
“The BJP is fighting for ‘abki baar, 400 paar’ and Congress for ‘abki baar, 40 paar’,” he added.
Thakur said Congress is hit by desertions because it had called the Ram Setu imaginary, questioned the birthplace of Lord Ram and opposed the Ram temple, which all is going against the party.
“Congress leaders are also moving out as it is opposing India’s growth trajectory, and has joined hands with foreign forces”, he claimed.
Targeting Nakul Nath, the Union minister said, “Nakul Nath would be a hit wicket or he will be clean bowled by the public. He says he works for 12 days and enjoys for five years”.
Thakur said Pandhurna district was carved out from Chhindwara in 24 hours by the then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in 2023 for bolstering development. PTI LAL/ADU NR NSK
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