No one could have imagined Congress leader convicted for 1984 riots: PM Modi

Modi addressed multiple events during a day-long visit to Maharashtra and laid foundation stones for several projects.

Speaking at the Republic Summit in Mumbai, he said, according to PTI, “Four years ago, nobody thought of Congress leaders getting convicted in the 1984 Sikh massacre and that people (victims) would get justice.”

Modi’s remarks came a day after senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was convicted and sentenced to life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

Modi also took a dig at the Congress over the recent Supreme Court ruling on allegations related to procurement of Rafale jet fighters. “For the first time the country’s top court was approached over some allegations related to corruption. And they got a clear verdict which said whatever work has been done (in the Rafale deal), has been done with transparency and honesty,” Modi said, according to PTI. No one, he maintained, could have imagined such a scenario four years ago.

“We have a psychology wherein we believe more in corruption allegations against the government. Whether it is malpractice or corruption charges, the psychology has remained same,” he said. “Nobody thought four years ago that one day, Christian Michel, key person in the (AgustaWestland) helicopter scam, would be in India. The dots are being connected.”

Speaking after laying the foundation stone of the phase-3 of Pune Metro, Modi said his government’s thinking is different from that of opposition parties. “Unki soch unko mubarak (let them be happy with their thinking),” he said. “Our government’s aim is to strive for balanced development which reaches the last person in the society. Previous governments did not pay attention to transportation and infrastructure development the way they should have done.”

Recalling that foundation of the Metro rail project was laid under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, he said, “After 10 years we have been able to give it speed and increase the scale of work. If Atal Bihari Vajpayee was given more time, there would have been a wide Metro network in the country by now.”

He said the new Metro rail policy prepared by the Central government last year has given a much-needed impetus to the Metro network. “Metro (railway) work is going on in a dozen cities, and many more cities will implement it,” he said.

The upcoming Metro line in Pune — from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar area of the city – will serve IT professionals, Modi said, adding that no one should waste time due to lack of connectivity. “There should be effective use of time by everyone – from rural to urban India. So next-generation infrastructure and transport integration is the focus of the government,” he said.

Earlier, releasing the book Timeless Laxman, based on works of noted cartoonist R K Laxman, at an event held at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, Modi said studying Laxman’s art will give deep insight and understanding of sociology and social-economy of India over several decades.

“Laxman’s Common Man was timeless and pan-Indian. Indians across generations could identity with him,” he added.

Maintaining that the art of cartooning always left lasting impressions on him, Modi said, “I often wondered in the past why (Air India) aeroplanes should have the ‘Maharaja’, and not Common Man, as the tag. My thought reached then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and later some flights used the Common Man images.”

He said after assuming the Prime Minister’s office he wanted to see people wearing hawai chappals being able to fly. Today, he claimed, the “number of people travelling by flights has outnumbered those travelling in second class air-conditioned trains”. (With PTI Inputs)