Coimbatore: BJP leader Narendra Modi on Wednesday said Tamil Nadu can 'change the face of India' if it overcomes its power and water crisis and takes to linking of rivers for which a stable BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is necessary.
"Gujarat can help Tamil Nadu tide over the crisis, due to its poor transmission system, by linking the national grid. Linking of rivers will help farmers in the state and by providing water and power, Tamil Nadu can change the face of India also," he said.
He reiterated his appeal to give 60 months to NDA to make India strong in all fields, particularly power and agriculture sector, and claimed the BJP-led alliance in Tamil Nadu was emerging as a viable alternative to AIADMK and DMK.
Addressing election rallies here and Salem in support of NDA candidates, he said Congress, which had ruled the country for 60 years, had "failed" to meet even the basic needs of farmers and the poor, including water and power.
He said when he took over as Gujarat CM in 2001, 9,000 villages were without water. Within three years they were supplied with water through rainwater harvesting and linking rivers. Water was transported to Gujarat from Madhya Pradesh through big pipelines, he said and suggested this be replicated in Tamil Nadu to solve the acute water problem.
In Salem, he said that if elected to power, BJP would ensure that by the year 2022, when India celebrates its 75th independence anniversary, it would ensure every poor person has a house with a toilet, power, sanitation and schools nearby for their children.
Stating that he has come from the land of Iron Man (Sardar Patel) to the steel city of Salem, he said, "Though the city has talent, those who are in power--Delhi and Chennai- they don't give you the power."
"When the Prime Minister's voice is unheard, how can yours be heard? People should give a chance to this servant to take the country to developmental path," he said.
He also alleged there was huge corruption in the waiver of farmers loans by Congress-led UPA government.
On the party manifesto, Modi said BJP has given top priority for agriculture and evolved an irrigation scheme by which farmers would get water by linking rivers, which was "neglected" by Congress.
Modi also touched upon another industry in Salem, that of tapioca and Sago, and assured the problems of farmers and industrialists in this regard would be taken up if the party came to power.
