PM Modi: Congress states become ATMs for shahi parivar, won’t let it happen in Maharashtra

Speaking in Akola, Modi accused the Congress of being the most corrupt party. “Wherever the Congress forms a government, that state becomes the ATM of the party’s shahi parivar (Nehru-Gandhi family). As much as Rs 700 crore has been extorted from the liquor business in (Congress-ruled) Karnataka for the Maharashtra polls. Telangana and Himachal Pradesh have also become this shahi parivar’s ATMs… But we will not let Maharashtra turn into the Congress’s ATM,” he said.

He said the manifesto of the ruling Mahayuti focuses on women’s security, job opportunities and expansion of the Ladki Bahin Yojana, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, have come out with a “ghotala patra”. “The entire country knows the MVA means corruption, token money and transfer posting business,” he said.

Modi also pointed to the importance of the day — November 9 — referring to the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on this day in 2019.

“Today, the country is moving ahead with the goal of developed India and the people know that only BJP and its allies are working seriously to achieve this goal,” he said. “That is why the people are electing BJP and NDA governments again and again,” he said.

In Nanded, Modi reiterated his claim that “Congress wants the OBCs, Adivasis and Dalits to fight, as a split in their votes will get it back to power”. “The Congress’s game plan is to divide you into different groups and communities… It hates the OBCs because it cannot digest the fact that an OBC is the PM.. They want to divide the OBC communities into small castes and snatch the power of their unity. If that happens, Congress will snatch the reservation,” he said.

In his speeches, Modi also accused the Congress of “disregarding” the Constitution and “betraying Babasaheb Ambedkar”. “The Congress has crossed all limits. At election campaigns, they wave a red-coloured copy of the Constitution. The cover page looks like the Constitution, but the inside pages are blank… This shows the Congress mindset. They want to have their own Constitution,” he said.

“The Congress has always harbored deep hatred towards Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he claimed, as he asked the “shahi parivar” if they had ever visited Ambedkar’s “panchteerth” — his birthplace in Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, the place in London where he stayed while studying in the UK, Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur where he embraced Buddhism, his ‘Mahaparinirvan Sthal’ in Delhi, and ‘Chaitya Bhoomi’ in Mumbai.

“They hate Babasaheb because he was a Dalit and because he got credit for drafting the Constitution. Babasaheb is an inspiration for me, the BJP and my government. Our government has developed places attached to his legacy. I have even named our UPI as BHIM UPI,” Modi said.

Modi went on to list his government’s achievements, including housing for the poor, irrigation and infrastructure projects, schemes for farmers and women, and classical language status for Marathi.

Criticising the Congress for supporting the resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for restoration of special status, he said: “These people are speaking the language of anti-India forces and want to push Kashmir back into violence and militancy. They want to take Ambedkar’s Constitution out of J&K. After Article 370 was removed, Dalits and tribals there got reservations. Kashmiri Hindus fled due to Article 370.”

The Congress and the BJP are going head-to-head in 76 of the 288 Assembly constituencies in the state, with the outcome in these seats holding the potential of tipping the balance towards whichever side comes out on top on November 23.

With PTI