Congress creating ‘chaos’ to regain political space, PM Modi alleges

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviews ongoing industrial operations and infrastructure projects during his visit to Hazira, in Surat district, Gujarat. Photo: YT/@NarendraModi via PTI Photo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Congress has spent the past 12 years trying to create “chaos and uncertainty” in an attempt to regain political space, but asserted that people across the country have given the party a “strong response”.

Addressing a public function in Surat, where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for development projects worth ₹18,777 crore, Mr. Modi said that Gujarat had already sidelined the Congress politically and claimed that people in States governed by the party were dissatisfied with its performance.

“In Gujarat, you have pushed the Congress aside, but wherever the party is in power in the country, people are fed up with its misgovernance,” he said.

Referring to recent local body elections in Himachal Pradesh, where the Congress is in power, Mr. Modi claimed that the ruling party had suffered setbacks. “The people of Himachal Pradesh are fed up with its misgovernance. Earlier, the people of Haryana and Punjab also gave a clear message to the Congress that its parasitic politics will no longer work,” he said.

Taking a swipe at the recent leadership change in Karnataka, where D.K. Shivakumar was sworn in as Chief Minister earlier this week after replacing Siddaramaiah, Mr. Modi said that public dissatisfaction with the Congress government had forced the party to make the change.

“There was considerable anger among the people of Karnataka against the Congress government. This, it is said, is also why the Congress had to change its Chief Minister,” he said.

The Prime Minister also criticised those who question the concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat and India’s development vision.

“Some people continue to ridicule the idea of Atmanirbhar Bharat and question the country’s development vision. They are the ones who, in the past, kept India depende