Imphal, Jan 4: Ahead of Manipur Assembly elections, PM Narendra Modi urged people to vote for the double-engine government for peace and development of the region.
Addressing the public rally at Imphal, PM Modi said, “On January 21, Manipur will complete 50 years as a full fledged state and country is celebrating 75 years of independence, this is a great time for Manipur. It was Moirang in Manipur where for the first time the national flag was unfurled, now the same Manipur is the gateway to new development. Northeast will play a great role in the development of the country. So many key projects have been dedicated to the people today , these are jewels in the crown of Manipur.”
“My cabinet has five prominent ministers from Northeast. Today Manipur has become the first sign of positive change. We are giving importance to creativity and connectivity. We have also named the Mount Harriot in Andamans to Mount Manipur,” he added.
After 2014, there is a major shift in how the Northeast is viewed.
Development needs of this region aren’t merely decided from Delhi. They are decided after consulting the people of the different states.
Today so many top Union Ministers hail from the Northeast. pic.twitter.com/iVY0GtrfRJ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 4, 2022
Lashing out at the previous government, Modi said the previous government had a fixed policy for Northeast, which was – ‘don’t look East’. “They used to look here only during election, bur we are acting East. Northeast is becoming the gateway to development of the nation,” he stressed.
From the principal of ‘don’t look east’ which dominated the corridors of power for decades, the NDA government is driven by the Mantra of ‘Act East.’ pic.twitter.com/9OFvHcQXB1
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 4, 2022
He also informed that the Asian Highway One will be completed and Manipur will connect to South East Asia.
“Earlier, people used to visit Northeast but connectivity was bad, so tourism sector took hit but now good roads are reaching villages. Earlier, 6 percent people has piped water in Manipur, but now Jal Jeevan mission has transformed everything. Now 60 percent houses have piped water; soon it will have 100 percent coverage of piped water. This is the benefit of double engine government and this is the strength of double engine government,” Modi said.
At the same time, he also thanked people for giving a stable government to Manipur. “This is the strength of your votes, that so much work has taken here, no one could imagine this before. Six lakh farmers of Manipur benefitted from PM Kishan scheme,” Modi added.
Citing the benefits his government has brought to the state, he said 4 lakh people in Manipur have been covered under Ayushman Bharat, 1.50 lakh families given free gas connection,1.30 lakh families given free electricity, 30,000 houses provided free toilets, among others.
Stating that he understood the pain of the people of Manipur when he visited the state before he became the Prime Minister and under a different government, he said, “Therefore after 2014 , I got entire Delhi to the doorsteps of the people of Northeast, to the doors steps of people of Manipur. Manipur has given jewels to the nation. The girls of Manipur has brought laurels to the nation. Sports persons of Manipur are inspiration to the rest of the country. We have come up with the unique sports university in Manipur. This is the new spirit of India, our young girls will lead it.”
He further stated that, “We have to remember that the road ahead is long and remember when we started to walk towards development .We need to remember how previous government made Manipur ‘blockade state’…. Now in Manipur and rest of Northeast peace is returning, you are returning to mainstream and many key peace deals have been done. We have made sure blockades are no more… I am sure people of Manipur have identified them and we cannot allow Manipur to return to darkness. This decade is important for Manipur.”
“We have to maintain peace and take Manipur toward development. I hope you will again bless the double engine government,” PM Modi added.
