Slamming Opposition parties and their leaders for their short-cut politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11, 2022, exhorted taxpayers to expose such politicos who were trying to sabotage the economy for their selfish purposes.
“A country cannot move ahead by shortcuts. There is a disposition among certain parties to indulge in short-cut politics for selfish ends. Parties who adopt this shortcut are the country’s biggest enemies whose aim is to merely come to power by making hollow promises. At a time when India is working on objectives for the next 25 years, these political parties, out of their own selfishness, want to destroy the economy,” said the PM, speaking during the inauguration of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Nagpur.
Mr. Modi alleged that earlier governments had sacrificed taxpayers’ money for the sake of vote-bank politics and corruption.
The PM launched and inaugurated a slew of development projects worth ₹75,000 crore, notably the first phase of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, or the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway project named after late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
Phase I of the Mumbai-Nagpur Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Expressway is a 520-km stretch of road connecting Nagpur with the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district.
While the Samruddhi Expressway has long been a pet project of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (who had given it impetus when he was CM), the foundation stone of the AIIMS facility had been laid by PM Modi in 2017.
Both projects are said to be key in the development of the Vidarbha region in the near future besides helping to cement the BJP’s political hold over their bastion in Maharashtra.
“The launch of projects today is evidence of the fast pace with which the double-engine government [Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP] is working in Maharashtra. These projects give a holistic vision of infrastructure in the State. The Samruddhi Expressway will link 24 districts in the state. This will give a boost to the economic prospects of farmers, rise to new industries besides creating new avenues for employment,” Mr. Modi said, remarking that the launch and inauguration of development projects worth Rs. 75,000 crore would give new direction and energy for progress and prosperity of Maharashtra.
The Prime Minister’s address was also designed to strengthen the government of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis ahead of the crucial Maharashtra civic polls after Mr. Shinde’s intra-party revolt split the Shiv Sena and toppled Uddhav Thackeray’s tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government earlier this year.
The timing of the inauguration of the Expressway named after Bal Thackeray (Uddhav Thackeray’s father) is also significant given that Mr. Shinde and Mr. Uddhav Thackeray are embroiled in a bitter wrangle over the legacy of the divided Shiv Sena ahead of the high-stakes Mumbai civic body poll or BMC.
Besides inaugurating the expressway, Mr. Modi flagged off the sixth Vande Bharat Express from Nagpur and the first phase of the Nagpur Metro rail project. He also laid the foundation stone of Phase II of the metro project and took a ride in the metro train between Zero Mile Freedom Park and Khapri stations with some students.
Stressing the need for a long-term vision for regional development, Mr. Modi, without naming, took pot-shots at the inefficacy of the erstwhile Congress-NCP governments in the State by alluding to massive cost overruns — from ₹400 crore to ₹18,000 crore — of the Gosikhurd dam in Bhandara district.
“India cannot afford to lose the opportunity offered by the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ today. At one time in the recent past, even South Korea was a poor country and Singapore was an ordinary island nation but they changed their fortunes owing to the adoption of superior infrastructure. These countries did not resort to ‘shortcut’ politics by looting their taxpayer’s money,” said the PM, castigating the “anti-development” and “votebank” policies of opposition parties.
Mr. Modi’s inauguration of the projects comes at a time when the Shinde-Fadnavis government has been facing flak from the opposition MVA for ‘losing’ big-ticket projects like Vedanta-Foxconn to neighbouring Gujarat.
In their respective speeches, both Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis targeted Mr. Thackeray’s Sena.
Remarking that the Samruddhi Expressway was not just a highway but a game-changer that would be known as Maharashtra’s lifeline, Mr. Shinde said that its road quality was even better than Germany’s autobahns.
Talking about the obstacles during land acquisition for the project, the CM said: “There were many difficulties to this project with severe opposition to land acquisition. Many people [Leaders of Thackeray’s Sena] tried to ensure this project stalled. But Devendra Fadnavis showed a firm resolution on starting the project when he was CM. Today, we are working together,” Mr. Shinde said while underscoring the potential employment generation that would occur once the expressway was completed.
