Modi slams opposition, calls for change in peoples' lives

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks, he minces no words. It was no exception on Thursday when he targeted the opposition, saying while the nation was changing fast the mentality of some people was not.

Addressing a massive rally at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh to mark two years of his government at the Centre, Modi said he wanted a "qualitative change" in the lives of people and had come to the rally to submit the "hisaab-kitaab" (accounts) of his government.

"I am an MP from this state and hence Uttar Pradesh has a special place in my heart," he said amid applause and added that he was serving the people of the country as the "pradhan sevak" (prime servant).

The prime minister slammed the previous United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre for "looting" the public's money while being in power.

"When I became the prime minister, I was shocked to find out that the previous government had looted every bit of public money. Do people come to power to loot pubic funds?" Modi asked.

He also said that during the two years of the National Democratic Alliance government there has been no case of graft.

"I have taken it upon myself to end the corruption in the country. There has been no case of corruption against our government in the last two years. Even our opponents could not raise fingers at us," Modi said.

The prime minister also attacked the previous UPA government for slow pace of growth and said that his government would connect all the villages by road.

"During UPA government, many announcements were made but nothing was happening at the ground level. The pace of road construction has doubled by two times today as compared to the previous government. We are committed to connect all the villages in the country by a network of concrete roads," Modi said.

He further said it was "shameful" that thousands of villages in the country were still without electricity.

"It is shameful for me that even after around 70 years of Independence, thousands of villages in our country don't have electricity. I take pride in saying that in the last two years 6,000 villages have received electricity," the prime minister added.

He also said there was no dearth of money and that the Centre was giving enough funds to the state.

The prime minister also asked the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in the state to ensure that the long pending arrears of sugarcane growers were paid at the earliest.

Seeking the support of the farmers to produce ethanol from sugarcane, the prime minister said while this will be useful as a fuel for vehicles, it would also help the environment.

The prime minister also announced that the retirement age of doctors, both at the central and the state hospitals, will be increased to 65 years.

Happy with the impressive gathering, the prime minister however apologised for the audience having to stand outside the venue in large numbers as there was no place at the rally site.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who accompanied the prime minister, targeted the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state and labelled it as a failed government.

He also accused the Akhilesh Yadav government of failing to implement the crop insurance scheme in Uttar Pradesh.

He pointed out that the Congress too had come down to its lowest in the country and was restricted to some hill states.

State BJP president Keshav Maurya said Akhilesh Yadav would be the last one from the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan to rule Uttar Pradesh. The time of SP's downfall has begun, he said, adding that the Bharatiya Janata Party will come to power and give the state an able, stable and efficient government.

--IANS

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