PM Modi attacks Congress on caste in big Maharashtra blitz
PM Modi accused Congress of sowing division among castes and undermining women's empowerment in Maharashtra, urging unity ahead of elections.
The Congress is attempting to divide the country and create rifts between different castes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as he slammed the Opposition in his first rally for the upcoming Maharashtra elections and urged the electorate to remain united.
Addressing a massive crowd in Dhule in northwestern Maharashtra, Modi also alleged that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance was conspiring to scrap the state government’s Ladki Bahin scheme, under which underprivileged women are given ₹1,500 every month.
“The sole agenda of the Congress is to make one caste fight against another. They do not want SCs, STs and OBCs to progress and get their due recognition… Remember, Ek hain toh safe hain (We are safe if we are united),” Modi said.
“Since Nehru’s time, Congress and his family opposed reservation and now their fourth generation yuvraj (prince) is working for caste divisions,” Modi added ahead of November 20 assembly elections in the state.
Modi also accused the Congress of encouraging Pakistan’s agenda and speaking the language of separatists by pushing for the restoration of Article 370 of the Constitution, which used to grant special status to Jammu & Kashmir before it was scrapped in 2019.
“The Congress should not try to implement the Pakistan agenda in Kashmir. I am committed to implement the constitution in Kashmir. No one can reinstate Article 370 in Kashmir till I am there. By abrogating Article 370, I implemented the constitution of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Kashmir, which for 75 years had a different constitution. This was my biggest tribute to Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said.
His comments come amid a simmering controversy over the J&K assembly passing a resolution calling for the restoration of Article 370.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leads the Mahayuti alliance, with the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and is hoping to retain power in a high-stakes contest. The MVA, which comprises the Congress, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the NCP (Sharadchandraji Pawar), is aiming to replicate its performance in the Lok Sabha elections, when it won 30 of the state’s 48 seats.
Two days after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi reiterated his pledge to conduct a caste census at rallies in Nagpur and Mumbai, Modi said the Congress’s sole agenda was to pit one caste against another. He said that the Congress couldn’t digest the progress of scheduled castes, tribes and other backward classes.
“Rajiv Gandhi opposed OBC reservation. Now, they are dividing the castes within OBCs and various tribes in tribal communities. We need to maintain unity,” Modi said.
Modi repeated the slogan at a second rally in Nashik, alleging that the Congress hates other backward classes (OBCs) as it could not form a government on its own after OBCs united in the 1990s. “During the Congress rule, OBCs were not united. OBCs got reservation only when the Congress was out of power. As soon as the OBCs were united, the ultimate effect was Congress lost its simple majority in the country. So, Congress hates OBCs and wants to divide them into Kunbis, Malis and others. Congress wants various castes in OBCs to fight against each other.”
The Prime Minister also lauded the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government for implementing various welfare schemes for women, such as the Ladki Bahin Yojana, and alleged the MVA was against women’s empowerment.
“The BJP and Mahayuti government are committed to women’s empowerment, but the Congress-led MVA will scrap the Ladki Bahin scheme if they come to power. Women need to be alert about the MVA, which doesn’t support women’s empowerment,” Modi said.
He added that the Mahayuti government decided to recruit 25,000 women in the police force and would ensure women are safe.
Modi further alleged that the MVA was anti-development and only interested in looting Maharashtra. He accused the Opposition alliance of thwarting infrastructure projects such as the metro railway, the Vadhavan port, Atal Setu, and the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway. “The Mahayuti government is working for the development of the state. If all these works stop, Maharashtra will lag behind in progress.”
The Prime Minister described the MVA as a vehicle that had neither wheels nor brakes, adding that there was a fight to sit in the driver’s seat.
“They are fighting with each other for the post of chief minister. On the other hand, chief minister Eknath Shinde led the government and reinstated the prestige of Maharashtra. BJP ani Mahayuti aahe tar gati aahe, Maharashtrachi hamkhas pragati aahe (If there is BJP and Mahayuti, there is speedy development and a guarantee of Maharashtra’s progress),” he said.
Modi dared the Congress’s allies in Maharashtra to get Rahul Gandhi to praise Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. “A senior MVA leader has asked the Congress yuvraj (Rahul Gandhi) to stop disrespecting Savarkar as elections are taking place here. Those who consider Savarkar an icon are with the Congress,” he said, while also calling the Congress a parjeevi (parasite) that was dependent on other parties to survive.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said Modi’s speech was an attempt to spread lies and mislead the people. “On one hand, PM Modi said that Congress is finished and on the other hand he chanted Congress over 50 times. Modi’s love for the OBCs is also fake.”