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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: Union minister and BJP national president JP Nadda announced that every household in Puducherry would receive two free gas cylinders a year if the NDA returns to power, as he flagged off the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha\u2019s mega bike rally ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.Speaking at the rally, also attended by Union minister and BJP election in-charge for Puducherry Mansukh Mandaviya, Nadda said the NDA 2.0 government would prioritise the Union territory\u2019s \u201ceconomic development\u201d through welfare and infrastructure measures. \u201cPlease visit every household and tell people that two gas cylinders will be given yearly free, one on Pongal and the other on the Vinayaka Chaturthi. The e-scooter for the meritorious 12th-class students will be distributed. We will also establish 30 water ATMs across the UT, and 10,000 scholarships will be given to the tune of Rs 10,000,\u201d Nadda told party workers. He further invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s developmental vision for the Union territory, saying, \u201cModi ji had said, \u2018Puducherry means the BEST.\u2019 B for Business, E for Education, S for Spiritualism, T for Tourism. This is the mantra of Puducherry’s development. We assure you that under NDA 2.0, the government that is going to be formed, we will concentrate on the economic development of Puducherry.\u201d Sharpening his attack on the opposition, Nadda labelled the previous Congress-DMK administration as \u201cthe government of goons,\u201d accusing it of fostering corruption and lawlessness. \u201cCongress and the DMK governments have been a government of corruption and crimes, and it has led to the suffering of the poor. It’s been a government of goons. Gundaism was at its peak, and the drug mafia was free. Puducherry’s streets were not safe, and it’s only when the NDA government came into power that the law and order situation was under control,\u201d he said. Highlighting India\u2019s economic transformation under PM Modi, Nadda said the country had risen from being part of the \u201cFragile Five\u201d economies to the world\u2019s fourth largest. \u201cA lot of change has taken place since PM Modi took over the reins of the country. In the past 11 years, under his leadership, we have become the 4th largest economy, from the 11th. Soon, we will become the third-largest economy in the world,\u201d he said. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi countered the BJP\u2019s campaign narrative, alleging that the Puducherry government was \u201cimposed from Delhi\u201d and had failed to represent the will of the people. Addressing an election rally in Lawspet, he said the BJP had \u201cfailed to grant full statehood\u201d and accused it of favouring corporate interests. \u201cIt is pretty clear that the government in Puducherry isn’t the expression of the people of Puducherry, but it’s imposed from Delhi. The BJP wants Puducherry to belong to Mr Adani. The strategic Karaikal has already been sold to him,\u201d Rahul said. Gandhi also promised a series of welfare measures if the Congress-DMK alliance is elected, including Rs 2,000 monthly assistance for unemployed youth, 30,000 new jobs, free bus travel for women, an increased age limit for government jobs, and Rs 20 lakh health insurance per family. Polling in Puducherry will be held on April 9, and counting will take place on May 4, according to the Election Commission of India. The current 30-member Legislative Assembly\u2019s term ends on June 15. The Puducherry contest is shaping up as a three-cornered battle among the ruling NDA (comprising the NR Congress and BJP), the Congress-DMK alliance, and actor Vijay\u2019s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).<\/div>\n\n