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PM ridicules Congress desperation for alliances
Maharajganj, UP, Mar 23: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday said the Congress in its desperate bid to return to power was forging indiscriminate alliances without any common agenda and with the sole aim of defeating the NDA in the coming general elections.
Maharajganj, UP, Mar 23: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday said the Congress in its desperate bid to return to power was forging indiscriminate alliances without any common agenda and with the sole aim of defeating the NDA in the coming general elections.
Addressing his first election rally in Uttar Pradesh here after announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates, Vajpayee said the Congress wanted to return to power and its pre-poll tie-ups were only without giving any weightage to policies and beliefs.
Vajpayee said the NDA came into existence on the basis of strong policies, public support and cohesive strength. The BJP-led NDA government had completed its five-year tenure successfully, giving a boost to the development process in the country, he said.
The Prime Minister called upon the people to vote him to power for another five years and see India march ahead on every index of development.
He asked people to exercise their right to vote, saying, ``You have the power to choose the next government by just pressing a button. Every responsible citizen must vote and contribute in the growth of democracy,`` he said.
The Congress, he claimed, had failed to take the country on the path of development even after being in power for more than four decades. ``It is not as if the Congress did not want development, the party did not have the requisite will power to initiate the process,`` he observed.
Vajpayee also claimed that his government had fulfilled most of its promises made during the last elections. While 880,000 people were provided employment, 550,000 houses were constructed under the Indira Awas Yojna and 11 km of road was built every day under the NDA regime referring to his government`s ambitious river interlinking project, Vajpayee said it would bring about another green revoluion and solve the persistent problem of floods and drought in the country.
``Both the problems of drought and floods can effectively be tackled once the ambitious project to link the country`s rivers becomes a reality,`` he pointed out that every year, crop worth crores of Rupees were destroyed across the country due to either floods or drought. While some areas had little or no water for irrigation and drinking, others had it in excess, the Prime Minister said underlining the need for the river-interlinking scheme to deal with such problems.
``The water which gets wasted can then be utilised in areas suffering in the lack of it,`` he said, adding the production of foodgrains would also have to be increased keeping in mind the growing population.
Bureau Report
Addressing his first election rally in Uttar Pradesh here after announcement of the Lok Sabha election dates, Vajpayee said the Congress wanted to return to power and its pre-poll tie-ups were only without giving any weightage to policies and beliefs.
Vajpayee said the NDA came into existence on the basis of strong policies, public support and cohesive strength. The BJP-led NDA government had completed its five-year tenure successfully, giving a boost to the development process in the country, he said.
The Prime Minister called upon the people to vote him to power for another five years and see India march ahead on every index of development.
He asked people to exercise their right to vote, saying, ``You have the power to choose the next government by just pressing a button. Every responsible citizen must vote and contribute in the growth of democracy,`` he said.
The Congress, he claimed, had failed to take the country on the path of development even after being in power for more than four decades. ``It is not as if the Congress did not want development, the party did not have the requisite will power to initiate the process,`` he observed.
Vajpayee also claimed that his government had fulfilled most of its promises made during the last elections. While 880,000 people were provided employment, 550,000 houses were constructed under the Indira Awas Yojna and 11 km of road was built every day under the NDA regime referring to his government`s ambitious river interlinking project, Vajpayee said it would bring about another green revoluion and solve the persistent problem of floods and drought in the country.
``Both the problems of drought and floods can effectively be tackled once the ambitious project to link the country`s rivers becomes a reality,`` he pointed out that every year, crop worth crores of Rupees were destroyed across the country due to either floods or drought. While some areas had little or no water for irrigation and drinking, others had it in excess, the Prime Minister said underlining the need for the river-interlinking scheme to deal with such problems.
``The water which gets wasted can then be utilised in areas suffering in the lack of it,`` he said, adding the production of foodgrains would also have to be increased keeping in mind the growing population.
Bureau Report