In Chhattisgarh, PM says Cong abuses Modi to abuse OBCs

Modi said the Congress party had opposed the candidature of Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, for the post of President of India, and also opposed the candidature of the first tribal woman President. He claimed this wasn’t an ideological opposition to the BJP, since they had fielded an “old BJP leader” — referring to Yashwant Sinha — for the post.

Claiming credit for the passage of the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill to pave the way for women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, he said, the Opposition supported the law reluctantly only out of fear of angering women voters. “Now they are playing a new game. They are trying to divide women on the basis of caste,” Modi said, referring to the Congress demand for OBC sub-quota in women’s reservation. He asked the women not to be “deceived” by the Opposition.

Modi also said he was dedicated to Chhattisgarh’s development. “No matter how much I try from Delhi to ensure that development reaches you, the Congress government here keeps trying to disrupt it. In the last five years, Chhattisgarh has received thousands of crores of rupees from the Centre for development works. There is no shortage of money for the state, and I am not saying this but deputy Chief Minister (TS Singh Deo) of Chhattisgarh has said this in a public programme,” he said.

This statement, the Prime Minister said, angered people in the Congress. He accused the Congress government in the state of going slow on Central schemes for political reasons.

Modi accused the Congress government in Chhattisgarh of being steeped in corruption and misrule. “There is a scam in every scheme in the state…,” he said, hitting out at the Bhupesh Baghel government over alleged scams in ration distribution, liquor trade, Public Service Commission recruitment, District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund utilisation and cow dung procurement.

Exhorting party workers to ensure victory at every booth, Modi said they should not think of the Assembly polls in terms of leadership and candidates. “You have only one leader, the lotus (the BJP’s party symbol), and only one candidate, the lotus,” he said.

Former Chief Minister Raman Singh was present on the dais but did not speak. While state party chief and Bilaspur MP Arun Sao spoke in the local dialect after Modi arrived, Rajya Sabha MP Saroj Pandey too addressed the crowd. Modi, however, made references to Raman Singh’s tenure as Chief Minister, naming him more than once.

Modi said he drew energy from the satisfaction of poor people who benefitted from Central schemes. He said the Centre distributed free ration and also purchased the produce of paddy farmers in the state. He promised that if BJP comes to power, the first Cabinet decision of the next state government would be to expedite the construction of pucca houses for the state’s poor people.