Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj addressed a rally in Valmiki Basti on Monday. (Source: IE archive) Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj addressed a rally in Valmiki Basti on Monday. (Source: IE archive)

In a speech that extolled Narendra Modi and made repeated allusions to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, BJP MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj saluted Modi’s wife, Jashodaben Modi, for her “sacrifices that no one knew about”.

Drawing a parallel between Modi and his wife with that of Laxman and his wife in the Ramayana, Maharaj said, “Jab Bhagwan Ram ka vanvaas hua tha, Laxman ki patni bhi unke saath chalna chahi thi. (When God Ram was exiled to the forest, Laxman’s wife also wanted to come with them). But, Laxman said no. All of Laxman’s achievements were due to the sacrifices and tapasya that his wife made…”

He also said the sacrifices that Jashodaben had made, leading to Modi’s success, had gone largely untold in the public sphere. “No one knows about her sacrifices, the fasts she took and her tapasya. Jashodaben ko mera pranaam. (I salute Jashodaben),” he said.

He went on to compare Modi to historical leaders such as Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Jhansi ki Rani and said Modi wasn’t a “normal man” but had been blessed with divya shakti (divine power)”.

Likening Modi’s “revolution” to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, the MP said, “The work undertaken to motivate people to join the movement was very difficult. We took our yaatras across the country. But Modi’s revolution was very different. There were no rath yaatras, but even unborn children wanted Modi sarkaar.”

Maharaj was speaking at Valmiki Basti in the R K Puram Assembly segment — a locality with a large Dalit Valmiki population that had voted heavily for the Aam Aadmi Party during the 2013 Assembly elections.

The MP also attacked AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. “Kerjiwal is trying to mislead people by saying that Delhi elections is about him versus Jagdish Mukhi. I assure you, there’s nothing of the sort. There is only Modi,” he said.

The meeting, however, was sparsely attended and organisers had to insist that people wait for “another ten minutes” to hear the MP’s speech, after he was two hours late.

Shah skips Udit Raj’s maha rally

New Delhi: BJP national president Amit Shah on Monday gave the Dalit Mahasabha, organised by party MP Udit Raj’s All India Confederation of SC/ ST Organisations, the miss.

On December 3, Shah had attended an event organised by another Dalit organisation, the Akhil Bharatiya Dalit Mahasabha of More Singh. Raj had given that rally a miss. While Monday’s rally was attended by Nitin Gadkari, Satish Upadhyay, Prabhat Jha and Vijay Goel, Raj urged that the rally should not be treated as a political event.

The caution came as the speakers, belonging to the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, demanded that Raj be given a Cabinet berth. The MP suggested that the speakers only speak on rights and dignity of Dalits.

Gadkari blamed Opposition parties for spreading lies about the BJP being “anti-Dalit”.

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