Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Chhattisgarh, took a dig at the Congress governments in poll-bound Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, stating that it seemed like both states were competing over their crime rates.
The Prime Minister was speaking at Jagdalpur in Bastar district where he laid the foundation stone for the NMDC's steel plant. "My tribal brothers and sisters wanted, which is why Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government formed Chhattisgarh," he said. The Prime Minister, during his visit to Rajasthan on Monday, attacked the Ashok Gehlot government over the high crime rates in the state.
Lashing out at the Congress government in Chhattisgarh for degrading the condition of the state, Modi said people were fed up with the government. "Corruption and crime are at their peak in the state. Sometimes, it seems like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are competing with each other over the crime rates. Here, development is seen either on posters or in the lockers of the leaders of the Congress government. Chhattisgarh is demanding change," he added.
The Prime Minister said the steel plant developed here will provide jobs to more than 55,000 people here. "More steel industries are to be set up here, giving jobs to more than one lakh people. In the upcoming years, youths from across the nation will come to Bastar for employment, he said.
The Prime Minister said the owners of the steel plant would be the people of Bastar. "These Congressmen want to make the steel plant a medium to fill the coffers of their children and relatives. But, Modi will not allow this to happen because the owners of the steel plant are the people of Bastar. I will not allow any Congressman to become the owner of this plant," he added.
The Prime Minister added that the dream of a developed Bharat will be realised only when states, districts and villages develop. He said the Centre has made a 20-fold increase in the budgetary allocations for railway projects in Chhattisgarh in the last nine years as compared to what was given before 2014.
Modi also virtually flagged off Tadoki (Kanker district)-Raipur DEMU train service.