Washim/Thane: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged Congress is run by a “gang of urban Naxals” and called for people’s unity to defeat the “dangerous agenda” of the “most corrupt and dishonest party”.
Modi addressed rallies in Washim in east Maharashtra and Thane city, the home turf of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, launching and laying foundation stones for development projects costing more than Rs 50,000 crore in various sectors in the poll-bound state.
Prominent among these projects are the Thane Integral Ring Metro Rail and Elevated Eastern Freeway Extension.
Modi inaugurated the BKC to Aarey JVLR section of Mumbai Metro Line 3, costing around Rs 14,120 crore, and took a ride from BKC station to Santacruz and back.
Earlier in the day, Modi offered prayers at the Jagdamba Mata temple at Poharadevi, the revered deity of the Banjara community, in Washim. He also paid tributes to Banjara saints and inaugurated the Banjara Virasat Museum.
Modi played a nagara (drum) during the inauguration ceremony, hailing the significance of the musical instrument in the great Banjara culture.
Addressing a rally, he accused the Congress of insulting Banjaras and making the lives of farmers miserable during its rule. He also dubbed the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi “anti-development”.
“Congress only knows how to loot the poor and keep them poor for its selfish politics. It only knows how to divide people. We have to be alert and remain united. Congress is run by a gang of urban Naxals,” Modi said.
Everyone can see how closely Congress stands with those people who do not harbour good intentions for India, he said.
“Drugs worth thousands of crores of rupees were seized in Delhi recently. A Congress leader is suspected to be the kingpin. Congress wants to contest elections from the money it gets by pushing the youth towards drugs,” he said.
The Indian Youth Congress had said on October 3 that Tushar Goel, the suspected kingpin, was expelled from the organisation on October 17, 2022, for anti-party activities, soon after BJP spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi charged the opposition party with having links with the drug dealers.
Modi alleged that Congress’ thinking has been foreign from the very beginning.
“Like the British rule, this Congress family also does not consider Dalits, backward and tribals as their equals. They feel that India should be ruled by only one family. That is why they have always maintained a derogatory attitude towards the Banjara community,” he said.
Interestingly, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in Maharashtra on Saturday.
Modi accused the Congress governments of continuing the British legacy of harassing Banjaras and keeping them away from the mainstream.
“People in Telangana are still waiting for the loan waiver. In Karnataka, the Congress government stopped the irrigation schemes started by the BJP regime,” he said.
He said the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government put a speed breaker in the work to uplift the Poharadevi pilgrimage centre, which began when Devendra Fadnavis was CM.
“The MVA worked with only two agendas – to stop the projects related to farmers and to commit corruption in the money of these projects. The funds sent by the Centre were being diverted away from the beneficiaries by that government,” Modi said.
He said farmers in Maharashtra, especially Vidarbha, faced big hardships for many decades.
Modi hailed the Ladki Bahin Yojna- the flagship scheme of the state government- as a major initiative for women empowerment.
Addressing a gathering in Thane, Modi dubbed the Congress the “most dishonest and corrupt party in the country whose character never changes”.
“One CM is involved in a land scam, one minister from that party is abusing women and a Haryana leader is caught with drugs. The party promises huge things to win polls and then loots people after coming to power,” Modi said.
Citing the toilet tax imposed in Himachal Pradesh, Modi said the Congress is identified with “loot, jhoot, and kushasan” (corruption, lies and misgovernance).
He said the people of Thane and Mumbai were suffering from problems of population and traffic under Congress regimes, and there was a time when Mumbai’s development had come to a halt.
The MVA also put hurdles in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train and Atal Setu projects and stopped water supply and irrigation schemes in the state, he said.
“The MVA is the enemy of development and people must keep the opposition alliance miles away (from power). In Maharashtra, the Congress is showing its true colours. It is opposing ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ wherein women get monthly aid of Rs 1,500 and the distribution of three free LPG cylinders every year,” the PM said.
Without taking the name of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Modi said parties that spoke of nationalism are now busy with appeasement politics.
“They oppose the Waqf Amendment Bill but stay silent on Congress insulting Veer Savarkar. When the Congress says it will bring back Article 370 in Jammu-Kashmir, these parties don’t react. If the ghost of the Congress enters somebody’s body, its ideology gets destroyed because of power,” Modi said.
Modi attended a thanksgiving event after the Marathi language was given the classical language status.
