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We understand plight of families as entire country is our family: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lashed out at “dynasts”, who he said, did not pay attention to the “mountain-like problems” faced by Muslim women due to “evil practices like triple talaq”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said prior to 2017, Ayodhya and adjoining regions didn’t get power, even as he accused the opposition parties of doing vote-bank politics.
Addressing a public meeting at Ram Sanehi Ghat in Barabanki, Modi talked of his government’s ongoing development initiatives, that he said would make the region a hub of ‘paryatan (tourism)’ and ‘teerthatan (pilgrimage).’
“The Purvanchal Expressway is one such move around which industries would come up. The international airport at Ayodhya would make the region a global hub of tourism and pilgrimage and transform the face of the region,” he said.
He also lashed out at “dynasts”, who he said, did not pay attention to the “mountain-like problems” faced by Muslim women due to “evil practices like triple talaq”.
“I want to ask these dynasts, who have families, as to why didn’t they worry about the pain of my Muslim sisters and daughters and their families when they were forced to return to their father’s home,” Modi said in his first of the two rallies in UP on Wednesday.
“Yes, we aren’t family people, but we understand the plight of families because for us the entire Uttar Pradesh and the entire country is family,” Modi said, adding, “It is our government that freed these Muslim sisters from the vicious cycle of triple talaq.”
Modi’s family pitch was apparently in response to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s frequent accusations against chief minister Yogi Adityanath of not being able to understand familial problems as he didn’t have a family.
Both Ayodhya and Barabanki, along with Kaushambi, where he addressed his second rally, will go to polls on February 27 in the fifth phase of the seven-phase elections. Polling for the fourth phase of the elections in the state was held on Wednesday. The votes will be counted on March 10.
He continued his attack on the opposition parties, claiming they are rattled as the poor people, who have benefited from various welfare schemes, including free ration, during Covid-19 pandemic, are carrying the BJP’s victory flag.
Modi said increasing the safety and dignity of daughters has always been the priority of his party’s “double-engine government” at the centre and in UP and flagged large-scale recruitment of women in state police as well as in the paramilitary forces and the army as proof.
“Today, daughters are giving protection to the country and society by becoming commandos in maximum numbers. Around 6-7 years ago the number of women police personnel in our country was only 1.10 lakh. Now the number of women police personnel has reached above 2.25 lakh,” he said.
In his other rally in Kaushambi, he accused “dynast” politicians from the opposition parties of “stealing” the ration of the poor during their rule. “We brought in ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’. Now people of Kaushambi can use their ration cards anywhere in the country.”
“You got to see ‘mausami (seasonal)’ leaders who disappeared during the Covid surge and reappeared when it was controlled. They have come now, when elections will be over after March 10, they will go abroad. They instigated people against vaccines but got themselves vaccinated. People are well aware of such leaders,” he said.
Taking a jibe at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, he said several scams came to light including mining, ambulance, food grain and riverfront during the SP’s rule.
“History shows that the state is not secure in the hands of family-oriented political parties. There were back-to-back terrorist attacks in UP during their rules. Unfortunately, instead of punishing the terrorists, the then Samajwadi government worked to get them released,” he claimed, while referring to the 2006 and 2007 serial blasts in Varanasi and Lucknow.
