‘Can’t allow Narmada activists to set foot here’: PM Modi’s veiled attack at AAP ahead of Gujarat elections 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a veiled attack on the opposing Aam Aadmi Party while addressing a rally in Gujarat, suggesting that the party should not be allowed to step inside the state since they are giving tickets to those who oppose the Narmada dam project.

PM Modi addressed a mega rally in the Mota Varachha area of Surat city ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections 2022 and said that AAP is giving tickets to people who are responsible for stalling the Narmada dam project for years.

He further said that allowing such people to set foot in the state is like committing a sin. The prime minister added that he had to sit on a fast to the completion of the Narmada dam project, which had been halted for several decades.

PM Modi said, “People of Surat should remember one thing. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone for the project, but it was stalled for 50 years. They (activists) ensured that no one in the world gave funds to Gujarat for the dam project. They (AAP) gave tickets to such people.”

"It is like committing a sin if we allow such people to set foot in our state as they destroy the future of three generations," he added, as per PTI reports.

PM Modi was referencing Narmada activist Medha Patkar, who had gotten a ticket from the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Medha Patkar was the leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, which was against the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

He also accused Congress of stalling the completion of the project and said he had to sit on a fast when he was chief minister to raise the height of the dam. "Congress thinks that it is not required to build infrastructure in the country, but people of Surat know the importance of infrastructure," he said.

(With PTI inputs)

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