JABALPUR, Oct 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at the Congress for eulogizing “only one family”, saying the country did not get independence or achieve development solely because of it.
On his second visit to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh in four days to launch projects, he blasted the Congress and it leaders for allegedly pocketing crores of rupees in the name of the poor and said opposition parties raised doubts when India came up with an effective vaccine against coronavirus.
“They raised questions when India developed an effective vaccine against coronavirus. Someone told me a new film called ‘The Vaccine War’ has been made to open the eyes of people in the world (about India’s vaccine capability). Such a film has been made in our country. Our scientists pulled off a miracle and saved the lives of crores of people and a movie has been made on it,” the PM said.
The Vivek Agnihotri-directed movie, which released theatrically on September 28, is based on the true story of Indian scientists, their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and how they developed an affordable vaccine for India and the world.
Modi was speaking after laying foundation stones for the Veerangana Rani Durgavati Memorial and Garden in Jabalpur and other projects worth Rs 12,600 crore. He also inaugurated a slew of development projects in the BJP-ruled state, where assembly polls are due by the year-end.
On October 2, Modi was in Gwalior where he laid foundation stones or inaugurated multiple development projects ahead of polls.
The party that remained in power for decades has done only one thing, just eulogizing one family. Neither the nation got its independence because of just one family, nor did it develop because of them, Modi said at the Jabalpur event, without naming the Congress or the Gandhi family.The PM said, his government honoured icons like Dr B R Ambedkar, Sant Ravidas and Rani Kamlapati by constructing memorials dedicated to them.
Referring to technological advancements made by the country, Modi said the names of some 11 crore non-existing persons were removed from government records as benefits were being availed of in their names.
This figure (11 crore) is more than the population of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the prime minister pointed out.
His government formed the triumvirate of Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar number and mobile connection to decimate the “corrupt network of the Congress” and prevent the theft of more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore, and that was the reason opposition parties were feeling a heartburn, he said.
Before 2014, scams worth thousands of crore under the then-Congress-led government used to make headlines almost everyday, Modi said.
The money meant to be spent on welfare of the poor use to go to Congress leaders’ coffers, he alleged.
“We ran a drive to change the corrupt system (after BJP came to power at Centre in 2014) and found the name of beneficiaries who were not born. There also we ran a cleanliness drive. Modi purged the system and their cuts went away. Modi cleansed the system,” he maintained.
The PM said his government ensured women got gas connections through the Ujjwala scheme for cooking food instead of using the smoky ‘chulha’ or wood-fired stove . (PTI)
