Panaji: Hitting out at Congress while addressing a campaign rally in poll-bound Goa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it had taken 15 years for Goa to get independence due to Congress.
PM Modi said Congress didn't remember Goa for any development purposes but only when its leaders wanted to come to the state for tourism. Elaborating on it, he said Jawaharlal Nehru had refused to send troops to liberate Goa, and Congress in fact, worked to destroy Goa's liberation struggle. But Goa people had to fight for it and got it after fifteen years, he said.
"Goa is useful for India and can come in handy in the progress of the country. If we have to increase tourism in India, then it can be done from Goa. But such things did not cross the minds of the earlier governments. They ruled for five decades in Delhi. They remembered Goa only when they wanted to pay a visit here for tourism purposes. But our government has introduced projects like Sagar Mala, under which the investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore is being done," the Prime Minister said.
PM Modi further said that in 2011, when Congress was in power in Goa, nearly 25 lakh tourists visited Goa yearly, but by 2019 the number of tourists visiting Goa tripled, because of the importance BJP government gave for promoting tourism.
"The number of tourists visiting here is a perfect example of what the BJP has done for the development of Goa. Earlier, only seasonal tourism was more in Goa, but the BJP government promoted tourism here, increased the facilities, and now tourists come here throughout the year. In 2011, when the Congress government was in Goa, there were about 25 lakh tourists a year. But by the time of 2019, this number has reached more than 80 lakhs," he said.
"If good roads were not constructed here, new facilities were not provided here, the tourists would not have liked to come here. That is why the BJP government has launched an infrastructure development Abhiyan here," the Prime Minister added.
PM lauded the work of Goa CM Pramod Sawant for reaching 100% beneficiaries and said that the BJP government had given the mantra of a 'Swayampurna' or a 'self-sufficient' Goa. For the BJP, 'GOA' stood for 'Governance, Opportunities, Aspirations' said the PM, expressing hope that people of the state would vote the party to power for the next five years.
