Mumbai: Kickstarting his campaign for the Maharashtra assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Congress of creating a rift between castes and tribes, and urged people to stay united, saying, “Ek hai, toh safe hai. (We’re safe if we’re united).”
Addressing a rally in Dhule in north Maharashtra, Modi also alleged that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance was conspiring to scrap the Maharashtra government’s Ladki Bahin scheme, under which underprivileged women are given ₹1,500 every month, if it’s voted to power.
Two days after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi reiterated his pledge to conduct a caste census at rallies in Nagpur and Mumbai, Modi said the Congress’s sole agenda is to pit one caste against another. He claimed that the Congress can’t digest the progress of scheduled castes, tribes and other backward classes.
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“Dividing castes and tribes is the biggest conspiracy against India,” Modi said, before alleging that previous Congress prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi implemented “anti-reservation policies”. “Rajiv Gandhi opposed OBC reservation. Now, they are dividing the castes within OBCs and various tribes in tribal communities. We need to maintain unity, so remember, “Ek hain toh safe hain.’”
Modi repeated the slogan and carried forward the attack at a rally in Nashik, alleging that the Congress hates Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as it could not form a government on its own after OBCs united in the 1990s. “During the Congress rule, OBCs were not united. OBCs got reservation only when the Congress was out of power. As soon as the OBCs were united, the ultimate effect was Congress lost its simple majority in the country. So, Congress hates OBCs and wants to divide them into Kunbis, Malis and others. Congress wants various castes in OBCs to fight against each other.”
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The prime minister also lauded the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra for implementing various welfare schemes for women, such as the Ladki Bahin Yojana, and alleged the MVA was against women’s empowerment.
“The BJP and Mahayuti government are committed to women’s empowerment, but the Congress-led MVA will scrap the Ladki Bahin scheme if they come to power. Women need to be alert about the MVA, which doesn’t support women’s empowerment,” Modi said. He added that the Mahayuti government has decided to recruit 25,000 women in the police force and would ensure women are safe.
Modi further alleged that the MVA was anti-development and only interested in looting Maharashtra. He accused the opposition alliance of opposing infrastructure projects such as the metro railway, the Vadhavan port, Atal Setu, and the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway. “The Mahayuti government is working for the development of the state. If all these works stop, Maharashtra will lag behind in progress.”
The prime minister described the MVA, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), as a vehicle that neither has wheels nor brakes, adding that there is a fight to sit in the driver’s seat.
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“They are fighting with each other for the post of chief minister. On the other hand, chief minister Eknath Shinde led the government and reinstated the prestige of Maharashtra. BJP ani Mahayuti aahe tar gati aahe, Maharashtrachi hamkhas pragati aahe. (If there is BJP and Mahayuti, there is speedy development and a guarantee of Maharashtra’s progress).”
Modi also played the nationalism card by accusing the Congress of encouraging Pakistan’s agenda and speaking the language of separatists by pushing for the restoration of Article 370 of the constitution, which grants a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Congress should not try to implement the Pakistan agenda in Kashmir. I am committed to implement the constitution in Kashmir. No one can reinstate Article 370 in Kashmir till I am there. By abrogating Article 370, I implemented the constitution of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Kashmir, which for 75 years had a different constitution. This was my biggest tribute to Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said.
Modi also dared the Congress’s allies in Maharashtra to get Rahul Gandhi to praise Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. “A senior MVA leader has asked the Congress yuvraj (referring to Gandhi) to stop disrespecting Savarkar as elections are taking place here. Those who consider Savarkar an icon are with the Congress,” he said, while also calling the Congress a parjeevi (parasite) that was dependent on other parties to survive.
Reacting to Modi’s remarks, Maharashtra state Congress president Nana Patole said the prime minister’s speech was an attempt to spread lies and mislead the people. “On one hand, PM Modi said that Congress is finished and on the other hand he chanted Congress over 50 times. Modi’s love for the OBCs is also fake and everyone knows that BJP had opposed the Mandal commission recommendations, which gave reservation to OBCs. The BJP and Modi are continuously spreading hatred in society. In Maharashtra, the BJP divided people on the lines of caste and religion and created conflict among Marathas, OBCs, Dhangar and Halba communities over reservation. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is fighting to protect the constitution.”
