Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday undertook a whirlwind trip to poll-bound Manipur where he inaugurated and launched 22 projects worth Rs 4,800 crore besides claiming how there “is the light of peace and development” in the state due to the continuous efforts of the BJP-led “double engine” government at the Centre and in the state.

From Manipur’s capital Imphal where he addressed a massive rally, Modi flew to Tripura capital Agartala where he continued to highlight his government’s development push to ensure the “progress and prosperity” of the Northeast.

At the Imphal rally, Modi laid the foundation of five national highway projects worth Rs 1,670 crore, a cancer hospital in Imphal in PPP mode and a Rs 200 crore ‘Centre for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIIT)’ besides inaugurating a steel bridge built over the Barak River on NH-37 to decongest traffic between Silchar (Assam) and Imphal and 2,387 mobile towers across the state and a Rs 280 crore water project.

Like in Imphal, he addressed a massive rally in Agartala under tight security at a time when corona cases were surging in India.

In his nearly 33-minute speech, Modi stressed how he “brought” the Central government to “your doorstep” when earlier governments had left the state on its own and how he changed the earlier government’s don’t-look-East policy to “Act East” policy.

Thanking the people of Manipur for the “formation of a stable” government that is governing with “full majority and with full impact”, Modi said that due to the “stability and choice of people” of the state a lot of development schemes have reached the targeted beneficiaries.

The BJP-led government came to power in 2017 with the support of National People’s Party (NPP) and the Naga People’s Front (NPF), Lokjanshakti Party and independents but both BJP and NPP have made it clear they won’t be having pre-poll alliance in the upcoming polls where the BJP is eyeing to win a majority of its own.

Manipur Assembly polls are likely to be held in March.

Modi said due to the continuous efforts of the double engine government, there is “no fire” of extremism and insecurity in this region and instead there is “light of peace and development” and how from a “blockade state”, Manipur has become a state giving way for international trade.

“The youth here and especially the daughters of Manipur have made the country proud all over the world. Especially today the youth of the country are taking inspiration from the players of Manipur,” Modi said, adding, “We have to maintain stability in Manipur and also take Manipur to new heights of development. And only the double engine government can do this work.”

Senior state BJP leader Asnikumar Moirangthem said Modi’s rally will give the momentum the state unit needed to take its poll campaign to the next level.

“ The huge turnout and the love people showered on him will give us the right momentum. It was a significant and successful rally,” he said.

However, the Opposition Congress was not impressed and issued a series of tweets such as the people of Manipur are “fed up of jumlas and lies and have decided to reject the BJP” and “Manipur needs a leader who truly cares” about them. “Be it ensuring development or sustainability or equity, be it implementing the National Health Mission or MGNREGA or the Mid-day Meal Scheme, you name it & BJP govt in Manipur has performed the worst in all major indicators of prosperity. And that is why- #ManipurRejectsModi,” the Congress tweeted.

Modi continued with his development narrative in Tripura where he inaugurated the state-of-the-art 30,000 square metre new integrated terminal of the Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport built at a cost of about Rs 450 crore.

He also laid the foundation of two mega projects the Mukhyamantri Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana focussing on improving service delivery in core development sectors at the village level and the Mission 100 Vidyajyoti Schools project towards ensuring the proper & quality education for the students. The project will benefit 1.2 lakh students from nursery to Class XII and cost Rs 500 crore in three years.

At Agartala, Modi recalled the “times of relentless corruption and governments with no vision or intention of development” of Tripura and how under the current regime “road, rail, air and water connectivity infrastructure” is getting unprecedented investment.

“There is no match of a double engine government when it comes to work with double speed. A double engine government means proper use of resources, it means sensitivity and boosting the power of the people, it means service and accomplishment of resolutions, it means united effort towards prosperity,” he said.