Hitting the campaign trail in the water scarce Bundelkhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday blamed the Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Congress for the backwardness of the region, and promised to transform it like Kutch in Gujarat.
Mineral rich Bundelkhand, he said, can change the “fate” of Uttar Pradesh and satellites can help keep a check on illegal mining.
“The SP and the BSP have ignored Bundelkhand over the years and these elections are crucial for Bundelkhand...it has to decide whether it has to get rid of the SP and the BSP,” Mr. Modi said at an election rally in Orai region of Jalaun.
“In five years, we will transform Bundelkhand, which has not seen any development in the last 70 years...mineral rich Bundelkhand can change the fate of Uttar Pradesh, illegal mining has to be stopped and satellites can be used to check clandestine activities,” he said.
The BJP had promised that if voted to power, an autonomous development board would be set up for the region and its working monitored on a weekly basis, he said.
“Some believe nothing can be done in Bundelkhand...it can be made No.1 in the State...there is Kutch district in Gujarat ...20 years ago if any government staff was posted there, it was considered ‘kala pani’ (Andaman’s Cellular Jail),” he said. Population was dwindling there with no farming and water and people were migrating in search of greener pastures.
“But after the earthquake there, we stared working on it and today it is the most developing district in the country. This can be done here too if the intention is right and if one has the resolve. If Bundelkhand has to flourish, it will need two engines to pull it out of the mess — BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and Centre,” he said.
