A day before the Kairana bypolls and on the day he inaugurated two major infrastructure projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a stinging attack on the opposition parties who are preparing to join forces to take him on in Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

“Just 12 km highway was constructed per day till four years ago. We now built around 27 km highway per day,” he said hitting out at the UPA government led by the Congress from a political rally in Baghpat, just 58 kilometres away from Kairana.

Advertisement

“The truth is that Congress and its allies always mock anything and everything that is being done for the backward classes, tribal, poor and women. They always act as obstacles in development,” the PM said after listing the achievements of his government.

“Having remained in power for generations within the family, these people see every work done for the poor as a joke,” thundered the PM in a direct reference to the Congress.

“Those who tear Cabinet papers do not believe in respecting the law passed in the Parliament. The people are seeing how these people are lying even on a Supreme Court judgment,” the 67-year-old PM said.

“Whether it is the SC/ST Atrocities law or reservations, they spread rumours to confuse the people,” the PM said adding that his government has made special courts to tackle cases of atrocities against the Dalits.

Alleging that the opposition parties are now spreading lies about 18 per cent GST on lease of farmer land, the PM asked the people to report rumour mongers to authorities.

“I want to tell my farmer brothers not to pay attention to these rumours but complain about rumour mongers and we will take action under the law,” Modi said.

“The nation has seen how they have created a crisis of faith in the country by questioning and suspecting the Election Commission, EVMs, and RBI. Now they even see the country’s media as biased,” said the PM as supporters chanted ‘Modi-Modi’.

Continuing his scathing criticism of the opposition parties, Modi said, “Those who worship a single family cannot worship democracy. These people also question surgical strikes. They even question the international agencies who praise India and any foreign dignitary who praises this government.”

“I never thought that while opposing Modi, they will start opposing India,” said Modi targeting the entire opposition which had recently presented a show of unity at Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony in Bengaluru.

Read More: HD Kumaraswamy takes oath, Opposition leaders display massive show of strength

“For Congress, their family is their country. For me, my country is my family. The people of this country are the members of my family. To earn, it is only your blessings I seek,” the PM said.

At the inauguration, the PM highlighted the achievements of his government, including allotment made for the various projects, the Bharat Mala project, expansion of rail and air network, and defence industrial corridor.

“Infrastructure does not differentiate on the basis caste, creed, religion and economic status,” he pointed out after inaugurating the 14-lane Delhi-Meerut Expressway and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE).

“Through ‘Make in India’ campaign manufacturing has received a boost. As a result, now there are 120 mobile phone manufacturing factories in India as compared to just two till 2014,” he said.

Praising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was on the stage, PM Modi said that criminals have started to surrender themselves before the police.

At the same time the PM assured sugarcane farmers that his government is sensitive towards their issues and is working to resolve all the problems.

Before taking on the opposition, the PM inaugurated the first phase of the 14-lane Delhi-Meerut expressway from Nizamuddin Bridge in New Delhi and embarked on a short road show.

It is India’s first 14-lane expressway, which includes a 6-lane expressway and 4+4 service lanes. The expressway has facilities such as rainwater harvesting and trees to help reduce pollution.

The 8.4-km access controlled expressway has been completed in a record time of 18 months as against the earlier expected construction period of 30 months, at a cost of about Rs 841 crore. Once completed, it will take just 60 minutes to travel from Delhi to Meerut.

Read More: PM Modi inaugurates first phase of Delhi-Meerut expressway

The EPE originates from Kundli on NH-1 in Haryana and stretches up to Palwal on NH-2. A total of 1,700 hectares of land has been acquired for the EPE at a cost of about Rs 5,900 crore. The construction cost of the project is about Rs 4,618 crore.

The expressway has been completed in a record time of about 500 days against the scheduled target of 910 days.

Read More: PM Modi inaugurates 135-km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway

The project of peripheral expressways around Delhi, comprising western peripheral expressway (WPE) and eastern peripheral expressway (EPE), connecting NH-1 and NH-2 from western and eastern side of Delhi, has been envisaged with the twin objectives of decongesting and de-polluting the national capital by diverting the traffic not destined for Delhi.