Modi says Puducherry victim of 'Cong culture', calls CM party 'specimen'

Puducherry: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, while addressing a public rally in Puducherry, took a swipe at the Congress government for the "underdevelopment" of the Union Territory.

He said Puducherry has poor infrastructure and  transport system and is a victim of "Congress culture".

"Puducherry has all resources and will-power but why is its development not up to the mark?" he asked. 

Accusing the Congress of doing injustice to the people of the state, the PM asked, "Why is it not number one? Are women and youth getting opportunities to move ahead? Are the industries prospering here?" 

Modi asserted that even after attaining independence as early as 1947, India was far behind several countries who gained freedom much later. 

"We need to ask ourselves what did we lack in our political culture, our system that we are still lagging behind several nations," he said.

Modi also accused the Gandhi family of having governed the nation using a "remote control".

"Our first PM (Jawaharlal Nehru) governed this nation for 17 years. His daughter (Indira Gandhi) did that for 14 years. Then her son (Rajiv Gandhi) held the post of PM for 5 years. In last 10 years from 2004-14 you saw how the family governed the nation through remote control," he said.

He said one family overtly or covertly ruled India for 48 years and asked the people to compare it with that of the 48 months of BJP rule.

Taking potshots at the Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, Modi congratulated him saying that the Congress would "exhibit" him as a specimen after June.  

Velu Narayanasamy is a senior Congress leader who has been serving as the Chief Minister of the south Indian Union Territory of Puducherry since June 2016.

PM Modi arrived in Puducherry on Sunday on the second day of his two-day tour to Tamil Nadu.

Earlier on Saturday, Modi launched the Tamil Nadu government's Amma Two-wheeler Scheme in Chennai and batted for women empowerment.