BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday took on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over his adage — Paise ped par toh nahi ugate (Money does not grow on trees) — questioning, how the property of Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh grew 14 times.
“Prime Minister you say that money does not grow on trees but here for your Chief Minister, the money indeed grows 14 times on trees. Virbhadra Singh’s income from apple trees saw an exponential 14 times growth in three years,” said Modi addressing the Sujanpur Tira at Hamirpur district.
He said that Virbhadra Singh in his affidavit filed before Election Commission of India and Income Tax returns clearly indicated that his income saw sharp increase to the tune of 14 times in a span of three years. Modi added that Congress Government was never serious about corruption.
“like price hike, the corruption is also ruining the country. The nation needs to be freed from corruption. If we need to get rid of corruption, we need to first get rid of corrupt,” added Modi.
He said that from tourism point of view, the rail infrastructure plays an important role in hill areas. “I assure you that what has not happened in 60 years, will happen in 60 months,” said Modi.
“The railway is the strength of our country and can give boost to our development and tourism in the State. Himachal Pradesh has always been riddled with bus accidents and most of the time is spent by the State Government in tackling with these accidents. Should not the state get a good rail networkIJ,” he added.
Talking about Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi said that when Vajpayee was Prime Minister, he had stressed on construction of Manali-leh road terming it as strategic but after UPA Government came to power, this strategic project was put on back burner. “The roads constructed across the country during Vajpayee’s tenure, even Congressmen accept that could not be constructed in past one decade,” said Modi.
“When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, the apple growers of the State used to get good price but everyone knows what happened to the apple growers, when UPA Government came to power,” he said. Stressing for skill development of the youth, Modi said instead of populist schemes, enhancing skill development of the youth would only eradicate unemployment.