In Bengal, Modi says BJP only protector of Bengali ‘ashmita’; slams TMC’s infiltration politics
PATNA/KOLKATA, July 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sounded the poll bugle in Bihar, where assembly elections are due this year, calling for “an NDA government, once again”, which would protect the state from the “evil intentions” of the RJD-Congress combine.
Modi also accused the RJD of seizing land from the poor on the false promise of jobs, in an apparent reference to the ‘land-for-jobs’ scam, and asserted that the ‘viksit’ (developed) Bihar is key for eastern India’s development.
Addressing a rally in Motihari town, the headquarters of East Champaran district, he said, “The people of the state had broken the shackles of RJD”, but the younger generation “must be made aware of the despair in which Bihar was mired two decades ago”.
He also made an indirect reference to the land for jobs scam, on a day when the Supreme Court turned down a plea by RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, a former railway minister and the prime accused, for a stay on trial.
“Employment generation could have never taken place in Bihar under people who made aspirants part with their land in the name of providing jobs,” said the PM.
In contrast, he pointed out, “lakhs of youths in Bihar” have got loans under the Mudra Yojana promoting self-employment, and his government has also launched other schemes like Rs 15,000 assistance to youth getting their first jobs in the private sector.
“The scheme will be rolled out on August 1 and the Centre will be bearing an expenditure of Rs one lakh crore for the same,” said Modi.He also raised slogans in Hindi, roughly translating “we will build a new Bihar with the NDA in power once again” and “the resolve of Bihar is unshaken, to remain with the NDA always”.
Modi alleged that under the RJD-Congress rule, the poor could not afford pucca houses and the relatively better off “feared getting their homes whitewashed or distempered, as this could attract the attention of marauding gangs involved in kidnapping for ransom”.
In contrast, he said, over the past 11 years, “four crore houses have been built across the country under the PM Awas Yojana, of which 50 lakh are in Bihar. This figure surpasses the total population of countries like Norway, New Zealand and Singapore”.
“In Motihari alone, the around three lakh families have got pucca houses and the figure continues to grow. Today, more than 12,000 families have got keys to their new houses and 40,000 families have received funds in their bank accounts to build pucca houses”, said the PM, whose speech was preceded by launch of development projects worth more than Rs 7,000 crore.
He also pointed out that the poorest of the poor now had access to banking services thanks to the Jan Dhan scheme launched by his government, in sharp contrast to earlier times, “when our mothers and sisters were forced to keep their savings hidden in some obscure corner of their homes”.
Modi charged the Congress-RJD combine with “arrogance that leaves no respectable space for leaders who do not belong to families that control these parties”.
The allusion may have been to Independent MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, an INDIA bloc supporter, and young Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, both of whom were shoved aside last week while trying to climb atop a vehicle from where Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav were addressing the public in Patna.
The PM also said that the Congress-RJD combine, while in power, had “put brakes on development”, but “we salute the resolve of the people of the state who broke the shackles” in the 2005 assembly polls, which brought the NDA to power for the first time.He, however, added that “the younger generation must be made aware of the despair in which Bihar was mired (nirasha ke gart mein duba) until two decades ago” and that it was essential to “protect Bihar against the evil intentions (buri niyat) of the Congress-RJD combine”.
PM SLAMS TMC IN BENGAL
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday tore into the TMC, accusing it of risking Bengali ‘ashmita’ and national security by promoting infiltration for vote-bank politics and alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government has “crossed all limits” of appeasement politics.
Modi, who launched projects worth Rs 5,400 crore in the state, across the oil and gas, power, rail, and road sectors, also positioned the BJP as the harbinger of a new Bengal, promising a clean break from the past, saying “the BJP has big dreams for West Bengal. We want to build a prosperous, developed Bengal. All the projects being launched here are a step towards that dream.” In a stinging critique of Bengal’s economic environment under TMC, Modi said the state has become inhospitable for industry and investors.
In a fiery address at a packed rally in Durgapur, Modi positioned the BJP as the only party that truly respects and protects Bengali ‘ashmita’ (pride), calling for an end to what he termed a regime of “lies, lawlessness and loot.”
“TMC, because of its vested interests, has put the identity of West Bengal at stake. For the sake of vote-bank politics, infiltration is being encouraged here. A complete ecosystem has been created to support infiltrators. This is a threat to both national security and Bengal’s security and identity,” Modi alleged.
He also accused the ruling party of “openly challenging constitutional institutions” and “defending illegal immigrants.” Amidst a growing political row over the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states, Modi turned the tables on the TMC.
“For the BJP, Bengali ‘ashmita’ is supreme. Wherever there is a BJP government, Bengalis are respected, Bengali language is respected,” Modi said to thunderous applause. (PTI)