BHOPAL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of cow slaughter and beef eating in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Sunday by accusing the opposition Congress of having "double standards" on the cow in two different states.
"The Congress has included cow as one of the issues in its poll manifesto of MP, I don't criticize them for it, as it's their right. But what's the same party's stand on cow slaughter and beef eating in Kerala," questioned Modi while addressing a poll rally in Chhindwara district.
"You (Congress) praise the cow in your manifesto in MP, but in Kerala, the Congress people slaughter the calf and click their own pictures while eating beef in full public view. The people of MP want to know whether the Congress in MP and the Congress in Kerala are different," questioned Modi.
Importantly, the Congress has included cow welfare and dairy farming as an important issue in its MP poll manifesto, promising to establish gaushalas (cowsheds) in every village and boosting commercial production of related products like gaumutra (cow urine) and cow dung cakes if voted to power in the state.
Taking a dig at the Congress and its national president Rahul Gandhi at poll rallies in Chhindwara and Indore, the PM said, "while the leader of the party is confused, his party is fused. Will they fulfill the dreams of people of MP."
Mocking at the Congress president with the Namdar jibe further, Modi said "the speeches of Namdar are not taken seriously by his own party leaders, so how will the people take him seriously. He doesn't know what is NCC, after returning from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, he's unable to explain what is Kailash Mansarovar, he can't even explain what is a manifesto," ridiculed Modi.
In Indore while informing the people about Rs 23,000 crores having been sanctioned for building seven smart cities in MP (including Indore), the PM said asked the Congress's namdar, to write 23,000 crore on a paper, "he'll get confused over how many zeroes will comprise the total figure."
The PM's first poll rally in MP on Sunday was in Chhindwara district, the constituency of nine-time Lok Sabha member and MP Congress chief Kamal Nath, who turned 72 on Sunday.
Modi launched a scathing attack on the ex-union minister Kamal Nath, saying "he (Nath) has been winning successive elections from MP, but has opened shops in Ghaziabad and Nagpur.
Referring to a recent video (which was tweeted recently by the BJP) showing the MP Congress chief tell that he wasn't concerned about the criminal record, but instead focused on winning prospects of any person, while selecting candidates, the PM said "have you all seen the video, in which the state Congress chief says he was ready to field goons, cheaters, criminals and corrupt people as candidates, if they are winnable. Will you allow MP to be pushed into the hands of such people."
While dubbing Kamal Nath as the biggest "Raj Darbari" (courtier) of one family (Gandhi family) since the emergency days, the PM said "had you (Nath) bowed before the people of MP instead of the powerful family before which you've been genuflecting day and night for long, the people of MP would have been proud of you and not hated you."
He also claimed that the Chhindwara development story spun by Kamal Nath was a farce and questioned the people about incomplete or halted projects, like the Spice Park, Soybean plant in Chaurai, the Cotton Mill and the Plywood factory projects.
Aiming guns at the former MP CM Digvijaya Singh, the PM described him as another Raj Darbari (courtier) of a single family.
While referring to a recent video showing Singh as saying that he doesn't go to poll rallies as going there and making speeches results in loss of votes to the Congress, Modi said it's not the people who are concerned about what you utter in public.
"It's actually the Congress which fears that bringing Diggy Raja at the forefront again will make the people remember the party's pathetic rule, before the 15 years of good governance of BJP governments in MP."