Arunachal Pradesh remained backward due to Congress 'misrule': Rijiju

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju Tuesday hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleging that Arunachal Pradesh had remained the most backward state in the country due to his party's 40-year long "misrule".

The BJP leader, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, also said due to the focussed attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the entire Northeast is poised to become a key economic hub of India.

"Rahul Gandhi has said that only the Congress party can develop Arunachal Pradesh. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi that in the last 40 years of Congress rule in Arunachal Pradesh, why the state has remained the most backward in India with regards to roads, communication, telecommunication, airports, railways, health and other social parameters," Rijiju said.

His remarks came after Gandhi, at a rally in Itanagar, said the Congress will restore restore the special category status to all states of the northeast if voted to power at the Centre.

Rijiju said people had suffered long due to the Congress "misrule".

The development process in Arunachal Pradesh picked up only after the NDA came to power in 2014, the Union minister of state for home affairs said.

"The Congress has left behind unresolved issues in the state like the boundary issues, refugee issues and security problems. Today, we have to face the problems which were created and left behind by the Congress," he said.

He said due to Modi's 'Act East Policy' and other important infrastructure projects, the northeast region is poised to become an important economic hub of the country.

Polling for the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly and the two Lok Sabha seats in the state -- East and West -- will be held simultaneously on April 11.

Rijiju represents Arunachal-West in Lok Sabha and will contest the elections from the seat again this year.