OUR CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: The BJP in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday strongly countered the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee’s (APCC) criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Itanagar, calling it a politically motivated attempt to undermine a ‘historic event’ that launched major development projects for the state.
The opposition party on Monday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly using his rally here to attack the opposition party and praise himself, instead of addressing the pressing concerns of the state such as unemployment and poor health infrastructure, and turning an official programme into a BJP election campaign event.
The BJP in a statement said the APCC’s charge that Modi used the September 22 rally only to attack the opposition and glorify himself was ‘misleading and false’, stressing that the Prime Minister laid the foundation stones for projects worth over ?5,100 crore during the visit.
The party maintained that the rally was part of celebrations around the launch of new GST reforms and was voluntarily attended by thousands of people.
Taking a sharp dig at the opposition, the BJP said the party had ruled Arunachal Pradesh for decades but left the state with “a legacy of failure, corruption and neglect.”
It alleged that successive Congress governments failed to build even basic road and air connectivity, create jobs, or provide quality healthcare and education.
The BJP also recalled a statement by former Defence Minister A K Antony in Parliament to argue that Congress lacked the political will to develop border infrastructure and remained “fearful of China.”
By contrast, the ruling party highlighted what it described as “transformational changes” under the leadership of Modi and Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
Key achievements listed included the completion of the Hollongi Greenfield Airport, upgrading of Tezu, Pasighat and Ziro airports, extension of railway links to the state capital, expansion of the Trans-Arunachal Highway, and road access to remote constituencies like Tali and Vijaynagar for the first time in decades.
The BJP also underlined the ?45,000 crore sanctioned for construction of the Frontier Highway, calling it one of the largest infrastructure investments in the state’s history.
It said the state had witnessed “record progress” in digital connectivity, education, healthcare facilities and border area development under the Vibrant Village Programme. Six new Advanced Landing Grounds, the party added, have strengthened India’s security preparedness in the frontier state.
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