Ritika
Yadgir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the priority of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments was only development, while some areas of the southern state fell victim to backwardness due to the ‘vote bank’ politics of other parties that ruled Karnataka. .
Apart from inaugurating and laying foundation stone of various development projects related to irrigation, drinking water and national highway at Kodekal near here, the Prime Minister also listed the advantages of having a ‘double engine’ government and said that it leads to ‘double welfare and double development’. The ‘double engine’ government has been the main election issue of the BJP for the formation of the BJP government at the center as well as in the states. Assembly elections are due in Karnataka this year.
The ruling BJP is gearing up for the May assembly elections in Karnataka and has set a target of winning at least 150 seats out of a total of 224. In such a situation, the Prime Minister’s emphasis on the double engine government is being considered important. After inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of various projects, Modi said in his address that the country is moving forward to fulfill new resolutions for the next 25 years.
He said, “This 25 years is an amrit kaal for every person in the country. There is nectar time for each state. We have to build a developed India in Amrit Kaal.
He said, “India can develop when every citizen of the country, every family, every state joins this campaign. India can develop only when the life of all, whether it is a farmer working in the fields or workers working in industries, is better.
The Prime Minister often calls the journey from the 75th year of independence to the 100th year as Amrit Kaal. Mentioning this on Independence Day last year, the Prime Minister called for making India a developed nation during this period. This is Modi’s second such visit to Karnataka this month. Earlier, he had come to Hubballi to inaugurate the National Youth Festival and also did a road show during this. Modi said the previous governments shied away from their responsibility by declaring Yadgir and surrounding areas in northern Karnataka as backward, but his government launched the Aspirational Districts Program in more than 100 districts of the country, including Yadgir.
He said, “The reason for lagging behind in the development of this region is that the previous governments did not even think of getting rid of backwardness. Making efforts towards it (development) is a distant thing. When it was time to invest in power, road and water infrastructure, the parties in power prioritized vote bank politics.”
Without naming any party or government, he said that every project and program was seen through the prism of how to convert votes of a particular community into just one strong vote bank and the biggest loss was to the people of Karnataka and the region. Had to pick up
He said, “We have laid emphasis on good governance in these districts. Work has started on the scale of development. We encouraged the aspiration of development in the districts which were declared backward by the earlier governments. The priority of the previous governments was vote bank politics but our priority is development.”
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Yadgir was known as ‘Kalyana Karnataka’ or the Hyderabad-Karnataka region. These districts were under the erstwhile rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad and are counted among the backward regions of the state. These districts include Bidar, Bellary, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Raichur and Yadgir and the region enjoys special status under the Constitution (Article 371J) due to its backwardness. During his address, the Prime Minister mentioned several development schemes and programs and said that the people of the state can see how much benefit they are getting from the ‘double engine’ government.
He said that when he came to power at the Centre, there were only three crore rural houses in the country where water was supplied through taps, but now there are 11 crore such rural houses. Citing the “Har Ghar Nal Se Jal Abhiyan” as the best example, the Prime Minister said, “Double engine government means double welfare, double engine government means double development.”
He said that if India has to develop, challenges related to water security like border security, coastal security and internal security have to be addressed. The Prime Minister earlier also laid the foundation stone of the Yadgir Multi-Village Drinking Water Supply Scheme under the Jal Jeevan Mission in line with his vision to provide clean and adequate drinking water through tap water supply to all households.
Several leaders including Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister Bhagwant Khuba were present on the occasion. Under this scheme, a water treatment plant of 117 MLD will be built. The Rs 2,050-crore project will provide drinking water to about 2.3 lakh households in more than 700 rural habitations and three towns in Yadgir district.
During the event, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal-Extension Renovation and Modernization Project (NLBC-ERM). The project, with a capacity of 10,000 cusecs, can irrigate an area of 4.5 lakh hectares and benefit more than three lakh farmers in 560 villages of Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Vijaipur districts. The total cost of the project is around Rs 4,700 crore.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the 65.5 kilometer stretch of National Highway-150C. This six-lane road project is part of the Surat-Chennai Expressway. It will cost around Rs 2,000 crore to build it. Targeting the previous governments, Modi said that for decades, crores of small farmers in the country were deprived of every comfort and they were not even taken care of in government policies. He said, “Today this small farmer is the biggest priority of the agricultural policy of the country.”
The Prime Minister said that the projects he has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone will lead to development in the entire region including Yadgir, Raichur, Kalaburagi and boost employment. The Prime Minister also appreciated Chief Minister Bommai for the development of the North Karnataka region. (agency)
