PM Modi slams Congress for praising `only one family' for development

Jabalpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at the Congress for eulogizing "only one family", saying that the country did not get independence or achieve development solely because of it.

He was speaking after laying the foundation stone of Veerangana Rani Durgavati Memorial and Garden here and other projects. He also inaugurated a slew of development projects in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on this occasion.

“The party that remained in power for decades has done only one thing, just eulogizing one family. Neither the nation got its independence because of just one family, nor did it develop because of them,” Modi said at the public meeting, without naming the Congress or the Gandhi family.

His government honoured icons like Dr B R Ambedkar, Sant Ravidas, Rani Kamlapati by constructing memorials, he said.

Referring to the technological advancement of the country, Modi said the names of some 11 crore non-existing persons were removed from government records as benefits were being availed of in their names.

“This figure (11 crore) is more than the population of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” he said.

His government formed the triumvirate of Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar number and mobile connection to decimate the "corrupt network of Congress" and prevent the theft of more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore, and that was the reason Opposition parties were feeling a heartburn, the prime minister said.

Prior to 2014, major scams used to make headlines, he said, adding that his government ensured that women get gas connections through the Ujjwala scheme for cooking food instead of using the smoky chulha or wood-fired stove that was a health hazard.