Mumbai: Kickstarting his marketing campaign for the Maharashtra meeting elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Congress of making a rift between castes and tribes, and urged individuals to remain united, saying, “Ek hai, toh protected hai. (We’re protected if we’re united).”
Addressing a rally in Dhule in north Maharashtra, Modi additionally alleged that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance was conspiring to scrap the Maharashtra authorities’s Ladki Bahin scheme, beneath which underprivileged ladies are given ₹1,500 each month, if it’s voted to energy.
Two days after Chief of Opposition within the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi reiterated his pledge to conduct a caste census at rallies in Nagpur and Mumbai, Modi mentioned the Congress’s sole agenda is to pit one caste towards one other. He claimed that the Congress can’t digest the progress of scheduled castes, tribes and different backward lessons.
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“Dividing castes and tribes is the largest conspiracy towards India,” Modi mentioned, earlier than alleging that earlier Congress prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi carried out “anti-reservation insurance policies”. “Rajiv Gandhi opposed OBC reservation. Now, they’re dividing the castes inside OBCs and numerous tribes in tribal communities. We have to keep unity, so bear in mind, “Ek hain toh protected hain.’”
Modi repeated the slogan and carried ahead the assault at a rally in Nashik, alleging that the Congress hates Different Backward Courses (OBCs) because it couldn’t type a authorities by itself after OBCs united within the Nineteen Nineties. “Throughout the Congress rule, OBCs weren’t united. OBCs obtained reservation solely when the Congress was out of energy. As quickly because the OBCs had been united, the last word impact was Congress misplaced its easy majority within the nation. So, Congress hates OBCs and desires to divide them into Kunbis, Malis and others. Congress desires numerous castes in OBCs to struggle towards one another.”
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The prime minister additionally lauded the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti authorities in Maharashtra for implementing numerous welfare schemes for girls, such because the Ladki Bahin Yojana, and alleged the MVA was towards ladies’s empowerment.
“The BJP and Mahayuti authorities are dedicated to ladies’s empowerment, however the Congress-led MVA will scrap the Ladki Bahin scheme if they arrive to energy. Ladies should be alert concerning the MVA, which doesn’t assist ladies’s empowerment,” Modi mentioned. He added that the Mahayuti authorities has determined to recruit 25,000 ladies within the police pressure and would guarantee ladies are protected.
Modi additional alleged that the MVA was anti-development and solely taken with looting Maharashtra. He accused the opposition alliance of opposing infrastructure tasks such because the metro railway, the Vadhavan port, Atal Setu, and the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway. “The Mahayuti authorities is working for the event of the state. If all these works cease, Maharashtra will lag behind in progress.”
The prime minister described the MVA, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Nationalist Congress Celebration (Sharadchandra Pawar), as a automobile that neither has wheels nor brakes, including that there’s a struggle to sit down within the driver’s seat.
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“They’re preventing with one another for the submit of chief minister. Alternatively, chief minister Eknath Shinde led the federal government and reinstated the status of Maharashtra. BJP ani Mahayuti aahe tar gati aahe, Maharashtrachi hamkhas pragati aahe. (If there may be BJP and Mahayuti, there may be speedy improvement and a assure of Maharashtra’s progress).”
Modi additionally performed the nationalism card by accusing the Congress of encouraging Pakistan’s agenda and talking the language of separatists by pushing for the restoration of Article 370 of the structure, which grants a particular standing to Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Congress shouldn’t attempt to implement the Pakistan agenda in Kashmir. I’m dedicated to implement the structure in Kashmir. Nobody can reinstate Article 370 in Kashmir until I’m there. By abrogating Article 370, I carried out the structure of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Kashmir, which for 75 years had a distinct structure. This was my largest tribute to Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he mentioned.
Modi additionally dared the Congress’s allies in Maharashtra to get Rahul Gandhi to reward Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. “A senior MVA chief has requested the Congress yuvraj (referring to Gandhi) to cease disrespecting Savarkar as elections are going down right here. Those that take into account Savarkar an icon are with the Congress,” he mentioned, whereas additionally calling the Congress a parjeevi (parasite) that was depending on different events to outlive.
Reacting to Modi’s remarks, Maharashtra state Congress president Nana Patole mentioned the prime minister’s speech was an try to unfold lies and mislead the individuals. “On one hand, PM Modi mentioned that Congress is completed and however he chanted Congress over 50 occasions. Modi’s love for the OBCs can also be faux and everybody is aware of that BJP had opposed the Mandal fee suggestions, which gave reservation to OBCs. The BJP and Modi are constantly spreading hatred in society. In Maharashtra, the BJP divided individuals on the strains of caste and faith and created battle amongst Marathas, OBCs, Dhangar and Halba communities over reservation. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is preventing to guard the structure.”
