Bhopal: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the Congress can’t return to power again, claiming that the people of India have rejected it. He was addressing a public rally in Madhya Praadesh’s Mandla.
Speaking at a mammoth gathering of BJP workers and supporters in the tribal-dominated Mandla Lok Sabha seat, the minister said that the Congress ruled the country for over 55 years, however, the tribals were treated as a vote bank only.
Citing the example of the first tribal President of India, Droupadi Murmu, the Union Home Minister questioned, “A tribal woman became the President of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I want to ask Rahul Baba (Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) if the Congress had ever made a tribal President of India during their regime?”
‘Family-oriented parties can never work’
He blasted the Opposition bloc, calling the alliance ‘ghamandi gathbandhan’ and accused them of indulging in corruption.
The senior BJP leader underscored that family-oriented parties will never be able to do welfare of the poor, Dalit, farmers, youths, tribals, women and backward communities, and that they can only engage in corruption and scams.
“Members of the INDI alliance won’t be able to do any good for people. These dynastic parties will never do any good for the poor, Dalits, farmers, youths, tribal, women and backward communities. If there is anyone who is committed to their welfare, then it is Prime Minister Modi’s government,” the former BJP president maintained.
He slammed the INDIA bloc for practising dynastic politics, and said in the upcoming elections, people have to choose between a leader who worked for taking every section of society forward and those who promote their own family members.
Shah asserted that for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, only four “castes” exist in the country and they are the poor, youth, farmers and women, and his main aim was their empowerment.
“One side is the BJP under the leadership of PM Modi working for the growth of the people of this country, on the other side Opposition parties are busy launching their new family members,” he added, taunting the Opposition for dynastic politics
Hitting further at the Opposition for ‘parivarvaad’, Shah said: “Opposition leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Lalu Yadav want to make their children and relatives Chief Ministers, and Sonia Gandhi wants to make her son Prime Minister. This is why they are contesting the election. They have nothing to do with the people and the country.”
Asserting that the flagship schemes have changed the lives of the poor people in the last decade, he highlighted the public benefit schemes of the Modi government, along with the surgical strike, the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Lashing out at the Congress for rejecting the invite to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple, Shah added, “The Congress kept the Ayodhya temple issue hanging for several decades, but PM Modi cleared all the barriers in the past five years and now after 500 years, this time, Ram Lalla will celebrate his birthday at his birthplace in Ayodhya.”
’25 crore people out of poverty’
In the 10 years of the Modi regime, 25 crore people have come out of poverty, the BJP leader noted.
In Madhya Pradesh alone, 95 lakh farmers were given the Kisan Samman Nidhi assistance (of Rs 6,000 per year), 70 lakh women got tap water connection in their houses and more than four crore people got the benefit of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, he said.
The central government has provided houses to 82 lakh beneficiaries and took a number of other steps for the welfare of the poor, Shah maintained.
‘Don’t ever dare to change Article 370’
Shah warned Congress, saying “don’t ever dare to change Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir”. He said the decision to abrogate Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir is of the BJP workers and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I would warn Congress to not dare to change Article 370. Kashmir is part of India. Your (Congress) politics of appeasement is over now,” Shah said.
The Union Minister highlighted PM Modi’s flagship schemes, especially for tribals in the last 10 years. He said it was PM Modi’s idea to celebrate Tribal icon Birsa Munda’s birthday as ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Divas’.
“The first Janjatiya Gaurav Divas was celebrated in Madhya Pradesh (On November 15, 2021). BJP implemented the PESA Act for tribals first in Madhya Pradesh,” Shah added.
The Mandla (ST reserved) Lok Sabha seat will vote in the first phase on April 19 and Khajuraho in the second round on April 26.
