Dhamtari: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that Congress encouraged violence to hide its corruption, and promised that he would “root out” Naxalism from Chhattisgarh.
Modi was speaking at a campaign rally in the state’s Dhamtari district, part of the Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituency.
Congress and development can not go hand in hand, and wherever it was in power, corruption and violence reached their peak, the PM said.
When it was in power in the North East, violent activities could not be brought under control, and as long as it ruled in Chhattisgarh, Naxalite violence kept on rising, Modi said.
“What is the connection between Congress and violence? The answer is corruption. Congress kept on encouraging violence to hide its corruption. People kept dying but Congress kept on filling its coffers,” he alleged.
Claiming that the BJP government brought both corruption and Maoist violence under control, Modi said, “Naxalism has been declining rapidly in Chhattisgarh. I give a guarantee to the parents that I will root out Naxalism. I assure mothers that the lives of their children will not go to waste, and they will not fall into the habit of roaming in the forest with guns. To protect your child, I assure every mother that I will eliminate Naxalism and Maoism.”
“On April 19, voting was held in the Bastar seat of Chhattisgarh and also in other states. The first phase has made it clear that people have made up their mind. They have decided to make India a powerful country for which a strong government has to be elected,” the prime minister further said.
Members of the opposition’s INDIA bloc were fighting with each other, he said.
“Two days ago, at a rally of the INDI alliance in Jharkhand, heads were broken and clothes were torn. This is the condition of these people,” Modi said, adding that in its most recent rally, half of those present at the alliance’s very first meeting were missing.
In Delhi, members of the Congress’ “shahi parivar'” (referring to the Nehru-Gandhi family) can not vote for their own party (because some seats have been ceded to AAP), he said.
“They are asking for votes across the country, but their own vote will not go to Congress. Because there is no Congress candidate in the place where the `shahi parivar’ lives. How can Chhattisgarh trust Congress which has lost trust even in Delhi,” Modi said.
He also cited late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s statement on leakages in the welfare system, stating, “In the Congress regime, only 15 paise out of a rupee meant for welfare actually reaches the people. Congress did not try to change the system. Now the question is, who snatched away 85 paise?”
He stopped this loot after coming to power, Modi said, adding that in the last ten years more than 150 crore Jan Dhan accounts were opened, around 1.75 crore of them in Chhattisgarh, and Rs 34 lakh crore were deposited directly in people’s bank accounts.
Had the Congress been in power and the “15 paise tradition” continued, Rs 28 lakh out of these Rs 34 lakh crore would have been embezzled, the prime minister added.
“Congress only knows how to betray the poor. It never understands their pain. People born with golden spoons in their mouths can never understand the pain of a poor mother..Modi understands this pain and therefore he launched the free ration scheme. It will continue for five years,” he said.
“Modi has been working day and night to fulfill your dreams. But Congress says it is not an issue. What is the issue for Congress? They say, they will break Modi’s head. They said this in Chhattisgarh. Not only this, there are also people who abuse my late mother. These are the same people who abuse the Modi community and Sahu community….Even the court convicted them,” he said, apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi’s conviction by a Surat court in a defamation case.
Notably, Sahus are a numerically dominant OBC group in Chhattisgarh.
A “tribal daughter” has now become the country’s President, Chhattisgarh has a tribal chief minister and an OBC deputy chief minister, and neighbouring Madhya Pradesh has Mohan Yadav (who hails from an OBC community) as chief minister, the PM said, adding that when people from SC, ST and OBC communities reach top posts, Congress sees a threat to democracy and the Constitution.
He appealed people to vote for BJP candidates Rupkumari Chaudhary (from Mahasamund Lok Sabha seat), Bhojraj Nag (Kanker) and Brijmohan Agrawal (Raipur). While Mahasamund and Kanker will go to polls on April 26, Raipur will see voting on May 7.
The PM later reached Raipur where he will be staying at the Raj Bhavan for the night. He is scheduled to address a rally in Surguja district of the state on Wednesday.
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