Congress treated Northeast as ATM, we brought divine governance: PM Modi in Nagaland

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Congress has used the Northeast as an ATM, while the BJP considers the region's eight states as 'Ashtalakshmi' (eight forms of Goddess Lakshmi) and is working for its peace and development.

Addressing a pre-election rally in Dimapur, he said that the NDA was working to bring about permanent peace in Nagaland so that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, would be completely removed from the state. "A country cannot be governed by distrust of its own people, but by respecting and solving their problems. Earlier, the North East had a politics of division, now we have transformed it into a divine government. BJP does not discriminate people on the basis of religion or region and religion,” Modi said.

Noting that there was political instability in Nagaland during the Congress rule, he claimed that the grand old party remotely controlled the northeast from Delhi and siphoned off money meant for its development, favoring "dynasty politics, from Delhi to Dimapur".

The Prime Minister said that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has adopted three mantras to govern Nagaland - peace, progress and prosperity. He said the BJP has made a big dent in corruption by using technology as a result of which money sent from Delhi is directly credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.