Venkatachalam (AP), Oct 27: Growing respect for India throughout the world and creation of self-confidence among people within the country were the twin major achievements of the NDA government, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said here today. "What had not achieved in the past five decades was achieved by the NDA government in the past five years," he said while dedicating to the nation a Rs 750 crore upgraded four-lane road between Tada and Nellore under the build, operate and transfer scheme.
Advani said there was all-round development in the country in the past five years and India had now become a "vishwa guru" (world leader). He said when the BJP undertook the 59-day Swarna Jayanthi “rath yatra” in 1997 to pay homage to the martyrs of the independence movement, the party wanted to ensure that India became a 'tremendous country' in the eyes of the world.
Even after 50 years years of independence, majority of population was living below the poverty line, crores remained illiterate and tens of thousands of villages had no protected drinking water facilities, he said. "My party decided to ensure that the swarajya was converted to surajya (good governance) and accordingly the BJP and its allies put this before the people as their mandate," he said. Bureau Report