In Shillong, PM Modi's football analogy: Showed ‘red card’ to hurdles in northeast developments

Narendra Modi said the NDA government in Meghalaya is making sincere efforts to eliminate corruption, discrimination, violence and vote bank politics.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the NDA government in Meghalaya is making sincere efforts to eliminate corruption, discrimination, violence and vote bank politics and the Centre has shown a 'red card' to many obstacles that came in way of the northeast's development in the last eight years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in Shillong on Sunday. (ANI)

Addressing a public meeting on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the North East Council (NEC) in the Meghalaya capital, Modi said, “We are making honest efforts to send out corruption, bias, nepotism, violence, stalling of projects, and vote bank politics. But you know that the roots of these diseases run deep. So, we all have to uproot it together.”

"When football fever is gripping us all, why not talk in football terminology? When someone goes against the sportsman spirit, they are shown a red card and sent out. Similarly, in the last eight years, we have shown a red card to several hurdles in developments of the northeast," he said.

“We may be looking at today's game in Qatar and looking at the foreign teams on the field. But I am confident of the youth of the country. So, I can confidently say that the day is not far when we will celebrate a similar festival in India and cheer for the Tiranga,” the PM added.

Modi also inaugurated dedicated and laid foundation stones for various projects worth ₹2,450 crore in Shillong as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of NEC.

“When we changed the priorities of the central government. Its positive impact is visible across the country. This year, the Centre is spending ₹7 lakh crore just for infrastructure. eight years back, this was less than even ₹2 lakh crore. Seven decades after Independence, we reached only up to ₹2 lakh crore,” Modi said.

In a step to further boost telecom connectivity in the region, Modi dedicated to the nation 4G mobile towers, of which more than 320 have been completed and around 890 are under construction.

On the occasion, Modi also inaugurated the New Campus of IIM Shillong at Umsawli and Shillong-Diengpasoh Road, which will provide better connectivity to the new Shillong satellite township and decongest Shillong, news agency ANI reported.

Modi also inaugurated four other road projects across three states- Meghalaya, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh. He also laid the foundation stone of six road projects across the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura.

(With inputs from agencies)