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Under Yogi Adityanath, riots and rioters checked: PM Modi
In Ghazipur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he is a chowkidar guarding the rights of the poor, accuses Samajwadi Party of protecting mafia, giving them election tickets
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday showered praise on chief minister Yogi Adityanath and said both “riots and rioters” have been effectively curbed in Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing an election rally in Ghazipur, he, at the same time, targeted the Samajwadi Party for protecting the mafia and giving them election tickets while pitching himself as the “chowkidar (watchman)” guarding the rights of the poor and the marginalized. He also hit out at the Congress and other opposition parties for diluting the quota rights of OBCs.
“Vanchiton ka jo adhikaar hai, Modi uska chowkidar hai (Modi is the custodian or the watchman of rights of poor, marginalised),” the prime minister said. Ghazipur was among the 16 seats that the BJP had lost in 2019 Lok Sabha polls in U.P.
“Till the time I am alive, I won’t let quota benefits and your rights be snatched away,” he said to applause in his rally.
He also referred to the recent Calcutta high court order cancelling the OBC certificates issued by since 2010, mostly by the Trinamool Congress government. He cited what the “Congress’ move” to dilute OBC quota by including several Muslims castes in Karnataka as proof of “appeasement” politics pursued by opposition.
Targeting the Samajwadi Party, he said: “During their rule, the mafia operated with impunity, brazenly challenging the law from open jeeps and killing rivals, while two to three riots took place each month,” he said.“The SP and Congress are willing to do anything for votes. The SP leader once claimed he would banish the mafia, only to later align himself with them. The SP not only protected the mafia but also gave them election tickets. Someone who cannot keep their word cannot fight for your cause,” he added.
Modi also accused the opposition parties, specifically the Congress, of insulting leaders belonging to the marginalised communities.
“These people insulted Baba Saheb Ambedkar, former President Ramnath Kovind and even the lone tribal woman president Droupadi Murmu. They also never showed respect for Maharaj Suheldev. Now, these parties are plotting to take away reservations from Dalits and giving them to Muslims,” he said.
Describing Ghazipur as the land of bravehearts, he noted that the name of Gahmar village in Ghazipur speaks for itself. He lauded the village for producing brave individuals from every household and said the whole country was “indebted” to this soil.
“After independence, the Congress vowed not to develop this area, forcing the people to live in dire poverty. The issues here were first highlighted by our Gahmari Babu, who, with tears in his eyes, informed the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru about the dire conditions prevailing there but the Congress exploited this situation for political gain, staged a political drama and formed the Patel Commission to placate the public. But the report of that commission continued to gather dust,” he remarked.
He said his government was giving free ration to the poor, adding that even during the Covid-19 pandemic the government did not let the poor sleep hungry.“Modi is spending lakhs of crores of rupees on the free ration scheme so that the poor do not face the kind of problems which they did during the rule of the Congress and SP,” he asserted.He mentioned how Gahmari Babu laid the foundation stone for the Tadighat bridge, but the Congress and SP stalled the project for six decades and the bridge was completed only when he became PM. The prime minister stated that his government implemented One Rank One Pension (OROP) for army personnel, which was earlier stalled by the Congress when the party was in power. Leaders of dynastic parties-built palaces for their families while the villages, the poor, the farmers, the labourers, the Dalits, and the underprivileged struggled for basic necessities, he remarked.
He highlighted that his government has lifted 25 crore people out of poverty in just 10 years. The PM emphasised his connection to the poor, saying, “I have emerged from poverty, and I have grown up among the poor.”Accusing the INDIA bloc of exceeding all limits of appeasement, Modi said, “SP leaders dismiss the Ram temple as useless, while Congress leaders plan to put a lock on it. The Congress wants to reignite conflict in Kashmir, endanger soldiers and strengthen Pakistan. However, Ghazipur should be proud that one of its own is now overseeing Jammu and Kashmir,” he remarked in an apparent reference to Manoj Sinha, the present lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir who belongs to Ghazipur.
