Not favouring one place or religion over another: Modi
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are not partial to any region or religion and want peace and prosperity for everyone.
“We made sure that vaccines got to every part of the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our government’s infrastructure and welfare programmes are for everyone and everyone’s benefit,” he said at a rally in Dimapur on the second-to-last day of election campaigning in Nagaland, where about 88% of the people are Christians.
Modi hoped that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which gives the military a lot of power in areas where there is an insurgency, would be taken away from Nagaland soon.
Nagaland goes to the polls on February 27, and the results will be announced on March 2.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) are working together to run for office (NDPP). It has put up 20 candidates, and the NDPP has put up 40, as they both want to get back in power.
Modi asked the people of Nagaland to vote for the NDPP-BJP alliance and give him another chance to serve Nagaland. “I want to keep all of the promises I made to everyone.”
He talked about the work that had been done to improve Nagaland and said that the support for BJP and NDPP was because they had been working day and night to improve the state quickly.
Modi went after the Congress because it had failed for decades to bring peace, progress, and development to Nagaland. He also said that the BJP and its allies have been working towards that goal since 2014, when they took power again at the Centre.
“Congress and its allies wanted to get votes, so they forgot about Nagaland and the rest of the northeast. Stability and progress in the area were not important to them. The party used to run Nagaland from Delhi with the help of a remote. “That’s why the Congress is in trouble,” Modi said.
He also said that the northeast was used as an ATM when the Congress was in charge. “The government money didn’t go to the people, but instead went into the pockets of dishonest Congress politicians. Ten years ago, no one could have imagined that the situation in the region would change.
Modi said that the BJP governments at the centre and in the state have used technology to make sure that money spent on the people goes straight into their bank accounts, without any middlemen getting a cut.
“Before, the policy was to divide the northeast, but we came up with PM-DevINE [Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region] to help the area grow. Peace, progress, and prosperity are our motto for Nagaland.”
Modi said that there has been 75% less violence in Nagaland over the past nine years. He also said that parts of the state no longer have AFSPA.
“We are striving day and night to ensure AFSFA is removed from all of Nagaland and the rest of the northeast. Border disputes between states are being solved because of the BJP and NDA governments in the area, which will lead to progress and prosperity.
Modi promised stricter action against extortionists if the NDPP-BJP government returns to power in Nagaland, where rebel groups are often accused of extortion.
After that, Modi was supposed to go on a roadshow in Shillong and speak at two rallies in Meghalaya, which also has elections on February 27.
