BHOPAL: Almost a year and half after six farmers were killed in police firing during the violent farmers stir in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally arrived in the West MP district on Saturday, addressing poll rally in support of party candidates from Mandsaur, Neemuch and Ratlam districts.
The PM invoked the persona of Sardar Patel at the rally, blamed the wrong policies of the erstwhile Congress regimes at the centre and state and reiterated his government's commitment to double the income of farmers by 2022, but he didn't speak anything about the killing of six farmers in police firing at two separate places in the same Mandsaur district on June 6, 2017.
Out of his 50-minute speech, Modi dedicated around 39 minutes to farmers and agriculture, blaming erstwhile Congress regimes squarely for the farmers' plight and ended the speech by appealing the electorate to ensure that not a single seat in Mandsaur is won by Congress in the coming polls.
"Ensure that the Congress isn't able to win even a single seat from Mandsaur, as only after being wiped out again will they learn not to stoke fire again in future," said Modi, apparently blaming the Congress for the 2017 violence.
"Had Sardar Patel been the first PM of the country, the lives of farmers would have never been ruined during the 55-50 years of Congress regime in the country. The hardships being faced by farmers presently are the result of the wrong policies of previous Congress governments. It's due to those lapses only that our present government too is getting defamed," said Modi.
While narrating the works being done by his government and the BJP government in the state over 15 years for farmers welfare, including neem coating of urea, increasing irrigation five times more than previous governments in MP and bringing farmers and other marginalized sections into the banking mainstream through Jan Dhan accounts, the PM said for removing the sins of the last five-six decades, his government needed some more time.
Continuing to attack the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi with his namdar jibe, Modi cautioned the crowd about the Congress' farmers' loan waiver promise made in MP.
"They made the same promise in Karnataka a few months back, but after coming to power from back gate with HD Deve Gowda's help, they are issuing warrants to defaulter farmers and putting them in jail, forcing farmers to protest on streets. Similar hoodwinking was done by them when they were in power at centre, as in 2008 they announced a loan waiver.
But out of the total 6 lakh crore outstanding loans of farmers, then central government only waived off Rs 60,000 crore worth bank loans, a large part of which pertained to those who were ineligible to be covered by it.
"At poll rally in Bundelkhand, Modi hits back on Congress for dragging his mother in elections earlier in the day, while addressing a poll rally in Chhatarpur district of Bundelkhand region, Modi had said "unable to compete with me on development front, the Congress has stooped to such a low in election campaigning that they are abusing my mother.
My mother even doesn't know R of Rajniti (politics), but they are dragging her name in electoral politics, I'm confident that women present here will give the Congress the deserving reply for it in the coming polls.
"A visibly upset PM was referring to the remarks by UP Congress chief Raj Babbar at a poll meeting in Indore on Thursday, where Babbar had equated the falling value of rupee to the age of Modi's mother.The PM also slammed Congress party leaders for often calling MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Shakuni and Kans Mama.
"Before referring to our CM with such names, the Congress leaders should also remember mamas of its own leaders, Mama Quattrocchi (Bofors scam) and Mama Anderson (prime accused of 1984 Bhopal Gas disaster who was allowed to flee in special plane to US by the Congress regimes at the centre and in MP).
"Taking a dig at the erstwhile UPA regime, the PM accused the government "remote controlled by Madam Sonia Gandhi" of emptying coffers of a bank for loaning the rich between 2006 and 2014.
While reiterating the resolve to continue the crackdown against black money, Modi said the new law enacted a year back has already helped in seizing assets worth over Rs 40,000 crore owned by the rich and famous (even abroad) who looted banks in the past.
"The mother-son duo (Sonia and Rahul Gandhi) which is out on bail is critical of demonetization because many of those known to them could have lost their black money. I assure them my fight against corruption will continue till the time every penny looted from the people of our country is not brought back."
On Sunday, the PM will address two more rallies in Jabalpur and Vidisha for the November 28 poll.