Modi lavishes praise on AP and Telugus, skirts contentious issues

VISAKHAPATNAM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday praised Visakhapatnam as a special city and said that the port city had traditionally been playing a key role in India's trade and commerce.

The Prime Minister virtually laid the foundation stone for five key projects while commissioning two other completed projects, all worth more than Rs 10,000 crores. Addressing a public meeting organised to mark the occasion at the Andhra University Grounds, the Prime Minister heaped praises on the people of Visakhapatnam and Andhra Pradesh, stating that Telugus, by nature, were both friendly and fierce. He said that the Telugus had been playing a stellar role in their respective fields, all across the world.

Narendra Modi started his speech in Telugu (Priyamaina sodara sodarimanularaa.. Andariki namaskaram) before breaking into Hindi. The Prime Minister's speech at the meeting, which clearly took place amid 'feel-good' atmosphere in the midst of a massive crowd presence, however turned out to be a dampener for those who may have anticipated some assurances over the long-pending special category status, railway zone for Visakhapatnam or the contentious issue of privatising Visakha Steel Plant.

The crowds, who were cheering the Prime Minister when he began his speech, clearly fell silent as Modi steered clear of addressing the emotive issues of the state despite a pointed appeal made by Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

Narendra Modi's speech was only centered around the projects that were unveiled on Saturday. He also reeled out the Centre's initiatives in multiple sectors while safely skirting the issues that were of paramount importance to the State.

The Prime Minister dwelt at length on Gathi-Shakti, Centre's push for infrastructure creation and a slew of welfare measures from farmers to fishermen on this occasion. Referring to the projects unveiled on Saturday in Visakhapatnam, he hoped that they would go a long way in furthering the progress of Andhra Pradesh.

"Today is a big day for Andhra Pradesh and Visakhapatnam. Visakhapatnam is a special city of the country. The Rs 10,000-cr projects would fulfill the aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh and Visakhapatnam. These projects would go a long way in creating self-reliance," he said. Referring to the projects began on Saturday, he said, "People of the state waited for these for a long time. Now that their wait is over today, Andhra Pradesh will make rapid forward strides towards development."

With specific reference to Visakhapatnam, the Prime Minister said that as part of a proposed economic corridor, a six-lane road besides another road connecting the port would be constructed. He also said that the fishing harbour in the port city would be modernised besides distributing Kishan credit cards to fishermen as well.

The Prime Minister also devoted his time in telling the crowds how India is hogging limelight on the global centre-stage.

"The whole world has been going through crises, be it fiscal, energy or others. Every country is worried about their fast-deteriorating fiscal health. But, even in this midst, India has been continuing to scale new heights. Because of this, the whole world is looking at India now. You may be observing how intellectuals and experts are complimenting India and how India has become the epicentre of the aspirations for the world populace.

"All this was possible because India was able to constantly strive to fulfill the aspirations of the common people. Every initiative of ours was aimed at the betterment of the common man," Modi claimed.

Today, because of schemes like PLI, GST, IBP, National Infrastructure pipeline and Gathi Sakti, the investments are on the rise. On the other hand, we are implementing several schemes for the poor," the Prime Minister said.

Earlier, the Prime Minister flew down to the venue by a helicopter from the Eastern Naval Command. He was scheduled to travel to the venue by road but due to security reasons in view of heavy influx of people to the port city, the plan was altered at the last minute.

Three stages were erected at the venue. On the main venue, Narendra Modi was flanked only by Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan, Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. On the second stage, AP Ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs were seated while the third stage was earmarked for 300 other dignitaries.

Interestingly, more than the BJP, the leaders of YSRCP left no stone unturned to make the Prime Minister's meeting a grand success by mobilising people from all across the north Andhra region. The Prime Minister later left for Hyderabad for a brief visit of Ramagundam in Telangana where he will commission the fertilisers plant to the nation.