NEW DELHI: Union minister and BJP national president JP Nadda announced that every household in Puducherry would receive two free gas cylinders a year if the NDA returns to power, as he flagged off the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s mega bike rally ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.Speaking at the rally, also attended by Union minister and BJP election in-charge for Puducherry Mansukh Mandaviya, Nadda said the NDA 2.0 government would prioritise the Union territory’s “economic development” through welfare and infrastructure measures. “Please visit every household and tell people that two gas cylinders will be given yearly free, one on Pongal and the other on the Vinayaka Chaturthi. The e-scooter for the meritorious 12th-class students will be distributed. We will also establish 30 water ATMs across the UT, and 10,000 scholarships will be given to the tune of Rs 10,000,” Nadda told party workers. He further invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s developmental vision for the Union territory, saying, “Modi ji had said, ‘Puducherry means the BEST.’ B for Business, E for Education, S for Spiritualism, T for Tourism. This is the mantra of Puducherry’s development. We assure you that under NDA 2.0, the government that is going to be formed, we will concentrate on the economic development of Puducherry.” Sharpening his attack on the opposition, Nadda labelled the previous Congress-DMK administration as “the government of goons,” accusing it of fostering corruption and lawlessness. “Congress and the DMK governments have been a government of corruption and crimes, and it has led to the suffering of the poor. It’s been a government of goons. Gundaism was at its peak, and the drug mafia was free. Puducherry’s streets were not safe, and it’s only when the NDA government came into power that the law and order situation was under control,” he said. Highlighting India’s economic transformation under PM Modi, Nadda said the country had risen from being part of the “Fragile Five” economies to the world’s fourth largest. “A lot of change has taken place since PM Modi took over the reins of the country. In the past 11 years, under his leadership, we have become the 4th largest economy, from the 11th. Soon, we will become the third-largest economy in the world,” he said. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi countered the BJP’s campaign narrative, alleging that the Puducherry government was “imposed from Delhi” and had failed to represent the will of the people. Addressing an election rally in Lawspet, he said the BJP had “failed to grant full statehood” and accused it of favouring corporate interests. “It is pretty clear that the government in Puducherry isn’t the expression of the people of Puducherry, but it’s imposed from Delhi. The BJP wants Puducherry to belong to Mr Adani. The strategic Karaikal has already been sold to him,” Rahul said. Gandhi also promised a series of welfare measures if the Congress-DMK alliance is elected, including Rs 2,000 monthly assistance for unemployed youth, 30,000 new jobs, free bus travel for women, an increased age limit for government jobs, and Rs 20 lakh health insurance per family. Polling in Puducherry will be held on April 9, and counting will take place on May 4, according to the Election Commission of India. The current 30-member Legislative Assembly’s term ends on June 15. The Puducherry contest is shaping up as a three-cornered battle among the ruling NDA (comprising the NR Congress and BJP), the Congress-DMK alliance, and actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
