Veiled attack on Pandit Nehru
ANAND, Oct 10: Sardar Patel resolved issues of merger of other princely States, but “one person” could not resolve the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, in a veiled attack on Pandit Nehru.
Addressing a rally at Anand ahead of Gujarat Assembly elections due this year-end, Modi also said he was able to resolve the long-pending Kashmir issue as he is walking in the footsteps of Sardar Patel.
“Sardar saheb persuaded all the princely States to merge with India. But another person handled this one issue of Kashmir,” Modi said, without naming India’s first Prime Minister.
“As I am following the footsteps of Sardar saheb, I have values of the land of Sardar and that was the reason I resolved the problem of Kashmir and paid true tribute to Sardar Patel,” Modi said.
Modi said his Government scrapped around 2,000 obsolete laws from the British-era that required industrialists to be sent to jail over minor issues and maintained India’s ranking in ease of doing business list has improved considerably after he took office in 2014.
Modi said under his Government, India’s position in the World Bank’s annual ranking of countries for their ease of doing business jumped massively – from 142 to 63 in five years.
Speaking at a rally in Jamnagar in poll-bound Gujarat, the PM said he intends to see India figure in a top-50 ranking in the assessment report. “The (outdated) laws continued from the time of the British (rule) and I roped in an entire team (to review them) because I did not want the country’s businesspersons to land in jail over trivial issues. We scrapped 2,000 such laws. I have to do more, and if traders sitting here know of such a law, let me know,” he said.
In a veiled attack on the Congress, Modi said earlier Governments ignored the issue of improving business environment in the country. “There was no mention of ease of doing business earlier…Compared to efforts put in by my Government. We changed the laws and the system legally which helped in improving India’s ranking. When I became Prime Minister (in 2014), India was ranked 142 (in ease of doing business list). We worked hard for 5 to 6 years and we reached the 63rd position.
“If we push hard, we will go below-50. Such a massive improvement is not confined only on papers….Small businesses are helping improve things on the ground,” the PM said.
Modi also praised former Ruler of Jamnagar Digvijay Singh for help extended by him to the people of Poland during World War II. “Poland helped us while bringing back our students from (war-torn) Ukraine as erstwhile ruler of Jamnagar Digvijay Singh had assisted Polish people during World War II,” the PM said. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
