BJP national vice-president Smriti Irani on Saturday accused the Congress of failing to maintain the pace of development for the North-East region, which was started during the NDA Government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Irani, who was here for a book release function, slammed the Congress for failing to ensure educational infrastructure in the State, which has led to outflow of bright students of the region to go outside seeking better education and job opportunities. Irani released a book titled Natun Axom Garhim authored by spokesperson of the Assam BJP Pradyut Bora.
“I meet many young people from North-East outside the region. When I ask them about their feeling of going back home, these young people narrate stories of bad roads, power cuts and lack of opportunities. When NDA was in power Atalji realised this and took steps to ensure that every youths from the region go back to their homes on pucca road. That is why four and six lanes highway projects were started during Atalji’s time,” Irani said.
“During the NDA’s rule even road connectivity between North-East and Southeast Asian countries were also taken up. Now forget about driving your car from Guwahati to Singapore. Even driving within the region is a difficult exercise. All States of North-east are still not linked by railways. Better roads and connectivity bring good health, better prospects and brings prosperity to the people,” Irani pointed out.
She also slammed the PM and said that price rise of essential commodity has led to serious impact on States like Assam where the per capita income is significantly less than the national average.