Modi sharpens attack on Cong over terrorism, graft

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of sympathising with terrorism and condoning corruption, and said that the BJP’s rise to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections broke the back of an ecosystem of middlemen who siphoned public money.
Speaking at a clutch of election rallies in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which go to the polls on November 17 and 25 respectively, Modi said that the BJP will eradicate “goonda raj” and that a vote for the party will strengthen him and keep the Congress away from power.
Speaking in Udaipur in Rajasthan, where in June 2022 Kanhaiyyalal Sahu was hacked to death by two Muslim men, Modi said that the “terror incident” was a blot on the chief minister Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government. “The heinous crime took place in Udaipur because a Congress government that sympathises with terror is in power in Rajasthan. The appeasement policy of the Congress government has endangered the culture, heritage and honour of the state,” he said.
The Prime Minister also said that the Rajasthan government had failed on law and order and controlling crimes against women. “The BJP will eradicate ‘goonda raj’ and crime completely from Rajasthan. I assure every woman in Rajasthan that they can live with dignity and without fear. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.

The Congress, however, rejected the charges and said that the party had always stood against terrorism.

Rajasthan Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi said that it was the Congress that has suffered the most tragedy through terrorism. “It is the Congress that has seen terrorism and suffered losses like the killings of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. The BJP has no right to ask any questions on this because in their tenure too, there have been acts of terror in which Indian soldiers have sacrificed their lives,” he said.
In Madhya Pradesh, where Modi addressed three different rallies in Satna, Neemuch and Chhatarpur, he said that at a time where the world is facing multiple geopolitical crises, India was showing the path of peace because of the its rich traditions. “Today, India’s voice is being heard in the entire world. Your vote has played a key role in this and this has decimated India’s enemies,” he said at a rally in Satna.

Describing a vote to the BJP as a “tri-shakti” in the hands of voters, Modi said that this would help the BJP return to power in Madhya Pradesh, strengthen his Prime Ministership in Delhi, and keep the “corrupt” Congress away from Madhya Pradesh. Referring to the Laadli Behna scheme — that provides ₹1,000 to women between the ages of 23 and 60 years who meet certain financial criteria– launched by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the state, he said that the elections in the state would hinge on women voters.
“This time, the elections in Madhya Pradesh will be decided by mothers and sisters,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that this government had made 40 million permanent homes for the poor, but said that in comparison, his government had to remove from government records, 100 million “fake beneficiaries” enabled by the Congress to siphon away public funds. “This money went into the pockets of Congress and their supporters and middlemen. But unfortunately for them, people elected a chowkidar in 2014 and such beneficiaries were thrown out, and ₹2.75 lakh crore of public money was saved,” he said in Satna.

Modi said that in the past decade of the BJP at power in the centre, the government had sent ₹33 lakh crore directly into the bank accounts of the poor, and that they built homes for the under-privileged with the same “devotion” with which the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was being built.
The Prime Minister also said that the Congress had no road map for Madhya Pradesh, and that the previous United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre had hampered the development of the state when it was in power. “There was the BJP government in MP and UPA government at the Centre. The UPA government hampered the development of Madhya Pradesh at every step. Only after that did the state get the power of the double engine,” he said. “Double engine” is a term the BJP uses to describe the same government both at the state and the cental level.

Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson Feroz Siddiqui said that the Prime Minister was misleading people because he was aware that there was a wave of change in the state. “Whatever he is saying will not work in the elections because people know his fake promises. Everyone knows how the Congress has worked for the development of India and how the BJP tries to get votes by spreading hate and without doing any real development,” Siddiqui said.

Source » hindustantimes.com