‘Acting as a puppet of forces opposing India’s growth’: PM Modi’s blistering attack on Congress from Assam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday criticized the Congress in a public address in Assam’s Silchar, calling it a puppet of forces opposed to India’s economic growth.Speaking on the second day of his visit to Assam, the Prime Minister said, “Powers across the globe are unable to digest India’s rapid development and the Congress is increasingly becoming a puppet in the hands of these powers,” he said.The prime minister further accused the Congress of neglecting the Barak Valley for decades after independence. Prime Minister Modi said the region once played a key role in trade but lost power after the country’s borders were drawn, cutting off access to the sea.“The Congress left the Northeast to its fate. When the country gained independence, the Congress allowed the borders to be drawn, thereby completely cutting off the Barak Valley’s vital link with the sea,” he said.The prime minister said the BJP’s twin-engine government is currently working to change the situation by improving infrastructure and connectivity in the region.Prime Minister Modi has launched projects worth around Rs 24,000 crore in Silchar, including the Shillong-Silchar Expressway Corridor.“Just ask Congress leaders this question. Give them pen and paper and ask them to write down Rs 24,000 crore, they can’t even do it,” he said.The 166-km-long corridor, with an investment of approximately Rs 22,860 crore, is expected to significantly improve connectivity between Meghalaya and Assam. Speaking at the meeting, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “The elections in Assam are coming soon. On behalf of the people of Barak Valley and Assam, I would like to convey this message to the Prime Minister: the people of Assam will bring back the Modi government”. The prime minister is scheduled to hold a rally in Bangladesh in the afternoon.