Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday criticized the Congress during a public address in Silchar, Assam, saying it was working as a puppet of forces against India’s development.Speaking on the second day of his Assam visit, the Prime Minister said, “The Congress is fast becoming a puppet in the hands of the same forces across the world which are unable to digest India’s rapid growth.”

The Prime Minister accused the Congress of neglecting the Barak Valley for decades after independence. PM Modi said that this region once played an important role in trade, but it lost its strength after the country’s borders were drawn in such a way that it lost contact with the sea.

He said, “The Congress party had left the North East to its fate. When the country got independence, the Congress allowed the border line to be drawn in such a way that the vital connection of the Barak Valley with the sea was completely severed.”The Prime Minister said the BJP’s double engine government is now working to change the situation by improving infrastructure and connectivity in the region.PM Modi inaugurated projects worth about Rs 24,000 crore in Silchar, including the Shillong-Silchar high-speed corridor.“Just ask Congress leaders about this. Give them a pen and paper and ask them to write Rs 24,000 crore, and they won’t even be able to do that,” he said.The 166 km long corridor with an investment of approximately Rs 22,860 crore is expected to significantly improve connectivity between Meghalaya and Assam. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister of the poll-bound state Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Elections are round the corner in Assam. On behalf of the people of Barak Valley and Assam, I want to convey this message to the Prime Minister: The people of Assam will bring back the Modi government.” The Prime Minister is scheduled to hold a rally in Bengal in the afternoon.