Cong never tried to develop NE: Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Tripura

Agartala: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and BJP national vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the Congress is responsible for not taking any decision for the development of the Northeastern states and converted India into a ‘loot ka adda’.

Speaking at a press conference in Agartala during his visit to Tripura on Thursday, Chouhan — who arrived in the state on Wednesday for the party’s membership drive — said that a new target has already been set in the state to give membership to 5 lakh people by August 11.

“We have set a target to give membership to 5 lakh people within August 11 and I strongly believe that the number would rise and the enrollment is going very fast. Around 2 crore people already took the membership of BJP through online in India,” Chouhan said.

When the BJP government came to the Centre under the leadership of Atal Vihari Vajpayee, the real development of the Northeastern region started as he formed the ministry of DoNER and allocated ample funds for the region to catch up with the rest of the country.

“When Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister, he never thought about Tripura or other parts of the Northeastern states. In his 10-year tenure, he hardly visited the region, though he was elected in the Rajya Sabha from Assam. After Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, he started to give priorities to develop the region,” he said.

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He claimed that works in different projects amounting to more than Rs 40,000 crore are being implemented in the Northeast for the development of infrastructure like highways, internet ways, roadways and airways (HIRA).

“Narendra Modi and the BJP government have given a special focus to NE for the development. Projects worth Rs 40,000 crore are undergoing. We have connected Tripura with other states through railways. Tripura is now on the way to development,” he said.

Chouhan also blamed the rule of the erstwhile Left Front government for under-development in the state and claimed that after the BJP government formed in Tripura, they restored the law and order situation.

“During the CPM government in Tripura, law and order had totally collapsed. People used to live in fear. But after the new government formed under the leadership of chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, the law and order situation has improved; now the people are living peacefully. The BJP government in Tripura has started many developmental works to develop the state and make it a model state,” Chouhan said.