RAIPUR & BHOPAL: PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on Friday hit the campaign trail for the upcoming Assembly elections with a rally in Chhattisgarh and two others in Shahdol and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.In his rally at Ambikapur, north Chhattisgarh, the PM said asserted that if a ‘chaiwala (tea-seller)’ had become a PM, the credit goes to the awareness and the ‘desh-bhakti (nationalism)’ of the 125 crore people of the nation and not any single individual.
“Irrespective of caste, community, ‘we’ or ‘they’ discrimination, sabka saath sabka vikas (development for all) remains the BJP’s developmental vision. We want support of everyone and there should be growth for all...” the PM said. In the run up to the 2013 Assembly elections in the state, Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, had addressed a rally in Ambikapur from the ramparts of a ‘Lal Qila’ (Red Fort) lookalike built for him. The BJP however, was able to only win one of the eight seats in the region.
Defending the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s decision on demonetisation, the PM said nobody but one family has an issue with the note ban. He also claimed that the money recovered during the note ban had helped expedite development work across the country.
He also challenged the Congress saying that if the party really respects democracy, then it should let someone outside the Gandhi family to lead it for five years. “I will then believe Pandit Nehru [Jawaharlal Nehru] began the democratic tradition where a committed Congressman can assume charge ...” he said.
He kept up his attack on the Congress in his rallies across MP.
In Gwalior, he invoked the personas of Jan Sangh founder Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former BJP chief Kushabhau Thakre. Harking back to the time that Scindia was jailed during the emergency, the PM questioned, “I want to ask those members of Rajmata’s family who are now carrying the Congress flag. Why was she jailed for 19 months? Ask your party (Congress)...”
He also took a dig at the lack of a CM face from the Congress so far. “I have heard that the Congress speaks eight different languages in eight different parts of MP. They are travelling, not with one, but eight CM faces. You (Rahul) must be thinking that you speak one thing in Chhindwara and another thing in Gwalior, but always remember, the era of emergency ... is over. Now, just when you say one thing in Chhindwara, the people immediately come to know about it in Gwalior,” said Modi.
Importantly, nine-time Chhindwara MP Kamal Nath and Gwalior-Chambal strongman Jyotiraditya Scindia are being seen as the two potential CM candidates of the Congress. Mocking Gandhi further, Modi said “when the head of a party (Congress) cannot even decide who will be its CM candidate in MP, will they be able to decide or change your fate? I dare him to name his party’s CM candidate.” In Shahdol, Modi also claimed that 62% of the promises made by the Congress in MP during the 1998 polls (when it came to power for the second time running) remain unfulfilled.