lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 02, 2019 16:38 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress’ minimum guarantee scheme for the poorest of families, saying the opposition party chants about the poor only during elections.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi recently announced the NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) scheme that guarantees Rs 72,000 per annum for the poor. The Congress has promised to provide cash support to the poorest 20% households of the country if it is voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The opposition party promised to target five crore families or 25 crore individuals as beneficiaries of NYAY, which Rahul Gandhi has called a “revolutionary” scheme that “will change the face of India”.

Also read: ‘An idea that will change India’: Rahul Gandhi hard sells NYAY at Andhra Pradesh rally

“They keep chanting the word poor during elections, but they snatch the rights of the poor. This is the truth of the claws of Congress, this is their policy and their principles,” said Modi.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the Vijay Sankalp Samavesh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bhawanipatna, the district headquarters of Odisha’s Kalahandi.

WATCH: Modi alleges ‘conspiracy against poor’ as Rahul promises ‘Nyay’

Referring to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s statement on welfare money being embezzled, Modi said the identity of the Congress is associated with Kalahandi.

“It was here in Kalahandi that Rajiv Gandhi had said that if he sends Re 1 from Delhi, only 15 paise reaches the poor tribals. After decades when the Congress formed the government in Delhi, they accepted only 16 paise out of Re 1 reaches the poor. So in nearly 25 years, Congress gave only 1 paise relief to Odisha. Do you trust these people?” he asked.

Modi said if the Centre now sends 100 paise to the poor, then the entire money reaches them.

“We have managed to do in five years what the Congress could not do in decades. Can you believe how much money was going to the pockets of middlemen and being turned into black money? There was no redressal of grievance of the poor. But the BJP government has stopped the leakage of money for the poor,” he said.

Modi also slammed the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government accusing it of perpetuating the corruption of Congress. “The BJD took forward the corrupt practices of Congress. In the last two decades, mining mafia chit fund scammers and corrupt officials were encouraged in Odisha,” he said.

Targeting the BJD over not implementing the PM-Kisan programme, Modi said while the central government deposits Rs 75,000 crore directly into the bank account every year to about 12 crore farmers across the country, it could not be implemented in Odisha as the state government stood as a barrier between the farmers and the Centre.

Modi alleged that both the Congress and BJD conspired to treat the poor as a vote bank, but cheated them.

“Due to this deception, people like Dana Majhi could not get an ambulance. Many people in Odisha had to leave their homes and go to other states to do jobs. Due to this deception, Odisha could not develop as much as it was supposed to be. Congress and BJD have conspired to keep the people poor,” he alleged.

Modi was referring to the poor Odisha tribal who was forced to walk back home with the body of his dead wife on his shoulder as the authorities at the district headquarters hospital at Bhawanipatna did not provide a mortuary van or an ambulance.

Continuing his attack on chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s 19 years rule, Modi said 19 years are not inadequate.

“In 19 years, a person becomes eligible to vote. In 19 years, a student becomes an engineer, a doctor or graduate. You relied on the BJD for the last 19 years, but now the time has come to change it,” the Prime Minister said.

“BJD leaders have taken your votes for granted. They think whatever they do, they would get your vote. Now is the time for them to face the reality,” he said, reiterating that Odisha is about to script a new history in 2019.

Voting in Odisha will be held in four of the seven-phased Lok Sabha election 2019 from April 11 to April 29. Kalahandi will go to polls in the first round. The result will be declared on May 23.