Panaji: Launching an attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that if Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had wanted, Goa could have been liberated "within hours" of India's independence in 1947, but it took 15 years.
Speaking at an election rally in Mapusa, near here, ahead of the February 14 assembly elections, Modi said the Congress has long treated Goa as its "enemy," and that this treatment continues to this day, as evidenced by the party's constant political instability in the state.

The Congress has never grasped the political culture or aspirations of Goan youth. They've always had a dislike for Goa," the Prime Minister said while campaigning for the BJP, which is seeking a second term in office.

According to Modi, there are several historical facts that are kept hidden from the public.

"Two-three days ago, I spoke in Parliament and told the country the truth about how the Congress destroyed Goa's liberation movement," he said.

"Many people are unaware that Goa was liberated 15 years after India's independence," said the Prime Minister. (After independence), India had a force in the form of an army and a strong navy...the work (liberation of Goa) could have been completed in a matter of hours, but the Congress did nothing for 15 years." Goa was liberated on December 19, 1961, and became a state in 1987.

Modi claimed that Congress "abandoned" Goa when its people were fighting for independence and satyagrahis were facing bullets.

"The Congress government did not come to their rescue," he continued, slamming the country's oldest political party.

Modi stated that Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, specifically stated in his speech from the Red Fort that they will not send the Army to liberate Goa, leaving its people to fend for themselves.

"Is this how you deal with Goa?" "The Congress had such thoughts about Goa before, and it still does," he said.