Speaking at a public gathering in Itanagar, PM Modi alleged that previous Congress-led governments treated the state as politically insignificant.
“Parties like Congress thought there were so few people and only two Lok Sabha seats, so why pay attention to Arunachal? This mindset of Congress caused significant harm to Arunachal and the entire North East. The BJP has freed India from the Congress mindset,” he said.
The PM highlighted the past with what he described as increased engagement under the BJP rule. “As a Prime Minister, I have come to the northeast more than 70 times. I love the North East from the heart, and that is why we have erased the distance of the heart and brought Delhi closer to you,” PM Modi added.
He also pointed out the financial allocations, noting that under Congress, Arunachal Pradesh had received only about ₹6,000 crore in central taxes in ten years, whereas the BJP-led government has transferred nearly ₹1 lakh crore in the last decade.
“In other words, the BJP government has given Arunachal 16 times more funds,” he said.
Hydropower, connectivity projects launched
PM Modi laid the foundation stones for two major hydropower projects in Shi Yomi district and a convention centre in Tawang.
The 186 MW Tato-I project is estimated to cost ₹1,750 crore and is expected to generate about 802 million units of electricity annually. The 240 MW Heo project is expected to worth ₹1,939 crore and is projected to produce nearly 1,000 million units each year, as per news agency PTI.
Both schemes are to be developed jointly by the Arunachal Pradesh government and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) on the Yarjep River.
The PM also initiated work on a convention centre in Tawang, to be built under the PM-DevINE scheme at ₹145.37 crore with capacity to host over 1,500 people.
Further, projects worth more than ₹1,290 crore in connectivity, health and fire safety were also launched.
PM Modi is also scheduled to visit Tripura on September 22 to launch several development projects there as well.
