New Delhi, Jul 19 (TOI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the Congress for not keep its promises on rural electrification during all the years it was in government. "It has been 70 years since we attained Independence, but 18,000 villages did not have electricity connections. This was quite unfortunate," said Modi in an address to people from villages across India that have been recently electrified.

While talking via video conference to a resident of Leisang village in Manipur, he asked one of the if he asked if the person now has a TV. Leisang was the last among the 18,000 villages electrified. The resident replied saying that now they have a TV too. "So, then you must have watched the recent (World Cup) football events. I know the people of Manipur love football," joked the PM, as the resident nodded in the affirmative. PM Modi also said that he keeps his promises. "From the ramparts of the Red Fort I announced that every village will be electrified. We walked the talk and went to every village. We not only focussed on electrification but also reformed the distribution systems across the country," he said. This, he said, is in stark contrast to the Congress party, which, he said, never keeps its promises. "In 2005, the then Government promised to electrify every village by 2009. The then President of the ruling party went a step ahead and said we will bring electricity to every home. Needless to say, none of that happened during their long tenure," said PM Modi.

During the interaction, people from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh told the PM the different ways in which having electricity has been positive for them.

"Now that we have electricity, we can watch TV. We can also purchase heaters and our children can study better," said one Tawang resident.

People from Tripura also expressed their happiness.

"The coming of electricity made our children particularly happy. We could buy fans as well, which help us during the summers," said people from Tripura's Dhalai village.