Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said that it was because of the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Andhra Pradesh and Telangana did not face power shortage.
Mr. Modi was keen on ensuring 24 X 7 power supply to both the States, Mr. Naidu said at Gram Sabha Kisan organised as part of Gram Uday Se, Bharat Uday Abhiyan of the BJP at Bourampet village near here on Wednesday.
He added that free power given by the State governments was not the answer to people’s requirements as what was needed was quality power.
Mr. Modi did not promise free power to voters of Gujarat, yet the BJP won the Assembly elections in the State thrice under his stewardship. In this context, he ridiculed the free ‘mangalasutra’ for would-be brides promised by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa ahead of the Assembly elections.
It was not freebies that won three consecutive elections each for Mr. Modi and other BJP Chief Ministers as Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh and Mr. Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh, but self-sufficiency in their respective States, he added.
Mr. Naidu dwelt at length on the programmes of the Modi government and said that the Prime Minister’s successful tenure so far had earned him the sobriquet ‘Making of Development India’ (MODI). The latter’s priorities were uplifting of villages, poor, farmers, workers, women and youth.
He criticised the failure of the State governments in devolving to gram panchayats all 29 subjects guaranteed by the 73{+r}{+d}amendment to the Constitution.
Whereas, Mr. Modi agreed to the release of Rs. 2.87 lakh crore for gram panchayats and municipalities as recommended by the 14{+t}{+h}Finance Commission. The gram panchayats will get Rs. 80 lakh each and the municipalities Rs. 21 crore for a five year term. On the proposed programmes of the Centre, he said it was decided to integrate all personal identity cards of citizens to strengthen delivery mechanism.
The government had electrified 7,343 out of 18,452 un-electrified villages in the country. The remaining will be covered well before the 1,000 day deadline set for itself by the Centre.
Referring to the double bedroom housing programme of the Telangana government, he recalled his assurance to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao that the Centre would assist in construction of one room for each house.
