New Delhi [India], March 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a veiled attack on Congress on Thursday, saying that Naxalism is being eradicated from the forests today but is spreading its tentacles in the urban centers and voice of urban Naxalites is being heard in parties that were earlier inspired by Mahatma Gandhi.
Speaking at the Republic TV Plenary Summit, PM Modi said that India's achievements and successes have sparked a new wave of hope across the globe.
He said today's India thinks big, sets ambitious targets and delivers remarkable results. He said youth is the X-Factor of today's India, where X stands for Experimentation, Excellence, and Expansion.
"In the past decade, we have transformed impact-less administration into impactful governance," he said
He also spoke of government's initiatives and said earlier,construction of houses was government-driven, but it now has an owner-driven approach.
"Due to the decisive decisions of the government, Naxalism is being eradicated from the forests today, but now it is spreading its tentacles in the urban centers. Urban Naxalites have spread their network so fast that the political parties which were against urban Naxalites, whose ideology was once inspired by Gandhiji and was connected to the roots of India, today the voice of urban Naxalites is being heard there," he said.
"From this, we can understand how deep their roots are. We have to remember that urban Naxalites are staunch opponents of both India's development and our heritage," he added.
PM Modi has in the past also taken "urban Naxal" jibes at Congress.
Stressing the importance of national security for a country's development, the Prime Minister underlined the significant work done in the past decade to enhance security. He recalled that earlier, serial bomb blast breaking news and special programs on sleeper cell networks were common on TV, but today, such incidents are absent from both TV screens and Indian soil.
He remarked that Naxalism is now on its last breath, with the number of affected districts reduced from over a hundred to less than two dozen. This was achieved by working with a "nation first" spirit and bringing governance to the grassroots level in these areas, he added.
PM Modi highlighted the construction of thousands of kilometers of roads, schools, hospitals, and the reach of 4G mobile networks in these districts and the results are evident for all to see.
"We brought governance at the grassroots level for them, thousands of kilometres of raod was made, schools, hospitals were made, 4G mobile network was brought, and now the country is looking at the results," PM Modi said.
He accused Congress of "crushing the inspiration of people".
"Congress had crushed the inspirations of the people of the country. That is why the people of the country had even given up hope. Look today, how quickly the situation and thinking have changed. Now people know who can work, who can bring results. Today, the opposition in the House also gives the same speech that why Modi Ji is not doing this... this means... they think that he will do this," PM Modi said.
PM said India is among the top 5 countries in the world in terms of solar energy capacity.
"We have increased solar energy capacity 30 times. Today our toys exports have tripled. Till 10 years ago, we used to import even rifles for our army from foreign countries, whereas in the last 10 years our defence exports have increased 20 times."
Noting that the strength of any society or nation increases when barriers and obstacles are removed for its citizens, he pointed out that the Government is continuously removing the obstacles placed by previous administrations and cited the example of the space sector, where earlier everything was under ISRO's purview.
While ISRO did commendable work, the potential of space science and entrepreneurship in the country was not fully utilized, he said.
PM Modi remarked that the space sector has now been opened up for young innovators, resulting in the creation of over 250 space startups in the country.
These startups are now developing rockets like Vikram-S and Agnibaan, he added.
The Prime Minister also mentioned the mapping sector, where previously government permission was required to create maps in India. This restriction has been removed, and today, geospatial mapping data is paving the way for new startups.
Pointing out that the nuclear energy sector was previously under government control with various restrictions, the Prime Minister said that this year's budget has announced the opening of this sector to the private sector, paving the way for adding 100 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by 2047.