The 10 years of the Congress-led UPA regime were “a lost decade” and saw a “bhrashtachar ki dukan“, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday. He also took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “mohabbat ki dukan” (shop of love) pitch and called him a “prolific foreign tourist”.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters to highlight the Narendra Modi government’s achievements in the electronics and technology sector, he said India is witnessing the “most exciting” period in its history as it is reaching new heights due to the prime minister’s decisive and effective policy decisions.

The Union minister of state for entrepreneurship, skill development, electronics and technology said, “If we look at the period from 2004 to 2014 from the point of view of progress made in the technology space, the most appropriate description for it would be ‘bhrashtachar ki dukan’ (shop of corruption).”

“It was the period when the 2G scam happened, the Antrix-Devas scam happened… Investors were leaving India and BSNL was completely destroyed,” he added.

He said, “2004-2014 of the UPA was lost decade and the decade starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi coming at the helm is the decade of India’s techade.”

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power between 2004 and 2014. In the nine years since, India has come a long way under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chandrasekhar said. India has become the world’s “largest connected” country in cyber space today from the world’s “largest unconnected country” in 2014, he said.

“India is now seeing the world’s fastest 5G roll-out. We are having a high degree of indigenous 5G components,” he said.

There is a “boost” to digital connectivity in the country, he said, adding it’s the “vision and mission” of the Narendra Modi government to ensure safety and security in cyber space, he added.