Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) took a dig at the Opposition over the newly inaugurated dedicated freight corridor, saying critics would still complain like a “naraz fufa” (grumpy uncle) and manufacture grievances, while also dismissing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s campaign against the government as “jhooth ki goonj” (echo of lies).
Speaking at the inauguration of three key sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, connecting Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai with Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, and marking the project’s completion, Mr. Modi praised his administration’s pace of execution and called the former Congress-led UPA regime’s working speed sluggish.
“After 2014, with your blessings, when I reached Delhi, and as soon as we arrived there, we began accelerating this project. Work on the dedicated freight corridor has been completed today,” he said.
The “jhooth ki goonj” jibe appeared to mock the Chhatron Ki Goonj student dialogue campaign launched by the Congress.
Targeting senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi without naming him, Mr. Modi said opponents would always find fault with major infrastructure milestones such as the newly inaugurated freight corridor.
“Now, the naraz fufaji [grumpy uncle] will start shouting: What will happen to the truck drivers? Where will the trucks go? What about the trucks people have purchased? Now, fufaji has found something new to complain about,” Mr. Modi said, implying that Opposition parties would go out of their way to manufacture grievances against national progress.
He pointed to rapid modernisation under his decade-long tenure compared to the previous administration’s shortcomings. “After 2014, India built 50,000 modern rail coaches. The previous regime could not build even 50,000 toilets in 10 years,” he said.
Taking aim at the Opposition’s youth outreach efforts, specifically Mr. Gandhi’s Chhatron Ki Goonj campaign, the Prime Minister cautioned the youth against falling for political misdirection.
“Saathiyo, jhooth ki goonj se bharmane wale toh har chaurahe par mil jayenge, lekin Bharat ka naujawan sach ki hunkaar se chalta hai… Satya ki hunkaar ke liye chalta hai [At every nook and corner, you will find people who will try to mislead you through lies, but today’s youth will stand with the truth],” Mr. Modi said, urging youngsters to align with factual progress over political narrative.
He said the youth could see how focused the government was on working across sectors, including solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear energy. Describing the dedicated railway freight corridor as the lifeline of a rapidly developing nation, the Prime Minister noted that India’s economic transformation was accelerating due to the modern freight structure. Earlier, passenger and goods trains were forced to run on the same tracks, which severely hampered both passenger travel and freight movement, but the dedicated corridor altered that dynamic, he said.
Criticising the administrative delays under the previous government, he pointed out that though the concept originated in 2004 and a special purpose vehicle was set up in 2006, files remained stuck without progress until 2014.
“Unfortunately, even these files weren’t fortunate enough to get a dedicated corridor. Files would get stuck, hang around, wander aimlessly,” Mr. Modi said.
India is scripting a new saga of manufacturing, spanning “chips to ships”, with components, final products and the supply chain for self-reliance being set up in the country, Mr. Modi said.
At an event in Mumbai later in the day, Mr. Modi said the Indian economy’s 7.8% real GDP expansion gave confidence to the world at large because the performance came in a challenging quarter when the impact of the West Asia conflict was the highest.
Published – September 08, 2026 11:06 pm IST
