"Congress is corrupt, India failed to thrive under its rule": PM Modi

New Delhi, Feb 16: In a sharp attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India failed to deliver under the "corrupt" rule of the grand old party while asserting that the "country is moving forward with confidence."

"Congress is corrupt; it can't think of a future; India failed to thrive under Congress," the PM said ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due in April-May this year.

PM Modi was addressing a 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Rajasthan' programme via video conferencing.

Lashing out at Congress, the PM further said, "After independence, today this golden period has come. India has this opportunity to leave behind all the disappointments from 10 years ago. India is moving forward now with confidence. Before 2014, there used to be only discussions of scams and bombings. People in India used to wonder what would happen to them and to the country. During the Congress regime, this was the atmosphere..."

"Congress has only one agenda, anti-Modi, extreme anti-Modi. They spread such things against Modi, which divide the society. When a party gets trapped in the vicious circle of nepotism and dynasty politics, the same thing happens to it. Today everyone is leaving Congress, only one family is seen there" PM Modi added.

He also expressed gratitude to the people of Rajasthan for giving a grand welcome to the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26.

Hitting at the previous Congress government in Rajasthan, the PM said, "During the regime of the previous government in Rajasthan, there used to be frequent paper leaks, and youth used to get affected by this. To investigate this, an Special Investigation Team was formed as soon as the BJP came to power. The Central Government has formed a stringent law against those who indulge in paper leaks..."

"Several people from every Assembly of Rajasthan have joined this important program, I congratulate all of you... A few days ago, the grand welcome you gave to the President of France in Jaipur echoed throughout India and France...," PM said.

During the programme, Prime Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over Rs 17,000 crore.

The projects cater to several important sectors including Roads, Railways, Solar Energy, Power Transmission, Drinking water and Petroleum and Natural Gas,as per a statement from Prime Minister's Office.

The programme was organised at about 200 places across all districts of Rajasthan, with the main programme held at Jaipur. The state-wide programme witnessed the participation of lakhs of beneficiaries of various government schemes. The programme was also be joined by Chief Minister Rajasthan, other Ministers of Rajasthan Government, MPs, MLAs and local-level representatives.