Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that in his third term in office, stronger action will be taken against corruption by the government. Addressing a large public gathering at Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar on Tuesday, Modi said that corruption snatches away the rights of the poor and the middle class. He further said that the development achieved during the past 10 years of his term is only a trailer, adding that a lot more has to be done in Uttarakhand and across the nation.
Beginning his address in support of BJP candidates for the Lok Sabha election by offering salutations to Nanda Devi, Golju Devta and Goddess Rajrajeshwari, the PM first greeted the locals in a sentence spoken in Kumaoni. Stating that he always feels blessed when visiting Uttarakhand, the PM said that the development achieved during the past 10 years in Uttarakhand is more than what was facilitated in the past 60-65 years. Listing the development works done in the State, he said that water connections were provided in 12 lakh homes, at least 85,000 homes were built for the poor, more than 5.5 lakh toilets were constructed, more than five lakh women were provided free cooking gas under the Ujjwala scheme and bank accounts were opened for 35 lakh citizens while more than Rs 2,200 crore was deposited directly into the bank accounts of farmers. “There is a long list of development works our government has facilitated. It shows that if the intention is good, the result also will be good. Modi’s guarantee is to make India the world’s third biggest economic power and this will also bring more job opportunities and increased facilities in Uttarakhand. Each vote will strengthen the resolve to make this Uttarakhand’s decade,” he said. Modi further said that another major task he is going to do in his third term- the PM Surya Ghar-Muft Bijli Yojana, under which government assistance will be provided for setting up rooftop solar panels and provide upto 300 units of free electricity per month per household, while the excess will be bought by the government. Targetting the opposition, he said, “The prince of the Congress’ royal family stated that the nation will be on fire if the BJP is re-elected to a third term. After having ruled the nation for 60 years, they are talking of setting fire after remaining out of power for only 10 years. With its Emergency mentality, the Congress does not trust in democracy and so is trying to incite and push the nation into anarchy. A Congress leader in Karnataka had said that the south of India should be divided away from the nation but far from taking action against him, the party gave him a ticket to contest the election. The people of Uttarakhand will never forget that they had also insulted the late general Bipin Rawat. The Congress is so stuck in the quagmire of appeasement that it cannot think of national interest,” he alleged.
Earlier, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt, BJP candidates Ajay Bhatt from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar, Ajay Tamta from Almora-Pithoragarh constituencies and other party leaders also addressed the gathering.