RAIPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cited the poor of the country as the biggest caste, asserting that the first right over the nation’s resources belongs to them.
While addressing the ‘Parivartan Mahasankalp’ rally of the BJP at Jagdalpur in the poll-bound Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, the prime minister said that during the last 9 years, all schemes of the Modi government made for the poor have instilled self-confidence among them.
“If the well-being of the poor is served, it will automatically lead to the nation’s welfare. For me, the poor, whether Dalits, backward, tribals or general category, remain the biggest caste. We have to care for them and change their lives. The welfare of the poor is my goal”, Modi said and criticised the Congress, for now, speaking a different language on rights to be given in proportion to the ‘abadi' (population) with caste census as a "conspiracy" and wants to divide the poor.
The Nitish Kumar government released findings of its caste survey in Bihar on Monday. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Chhattisgarh last week asserted that the caste-based census can provide the people the rights in accordance with their population and he appreciated the Bihar caste survey.
PM Modi accused the Congress of converting the Loktantra (democracy) into Loot-tantra (corruption) and Prajatantra (people’s politics) into Parivartantra (dynasty politics). He attacked the Congress for saying that the population would decide their rights and cautioned the people against the alleged secret pact of the Congress with some other country and took delight in speaking against the country (India).
While speaking at the BJP's public meeting in tribal-dominated Bastar, he attempted to woo the locals saying that he had spent several years of his life in the adivasi areas. He claimed that compared to Congress, the BJP government gives five times more budgetary allocations for the tribal communities.
“Atal Bihari Vajpayee government created a separate ministry and budget for tribals’ welfare, BJP government has established many Eklavya model residential schools for the tribal belts across India, Van-Dhan Vikas Kendra for forested tribal population besides medical, engineering colleges besides the education city in Bastar. The first woman President is tribal because of the BJP”, the PM said.
During his visit, the PM inaugurated the NMDC’s Nagarnar Steel Plant—the first such plant in the Bastar region and dedicated other development projects worth around Rs 27,000 crore in Chhattisgarh.
“For a developed Bharat the physical, social and digital infrastructure should be in accordance with the needs of the future. Nagarnar steel plant will create around 50 thousand employment opportunities and ensure the development of the region”, he said.