In an obvious attempt to invoke Gujarati pride, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused Nehru-Gandhi family and the Congress of prejudice against Gujarat by delivering injustice to the State and its people, including political stalwarts like Sardar Patel, Morarji Desai, former Gujarat Chief Minister Madhavsinh Solanki, current BJP president Amit Shah and even himself.
“History witnessed what the Congress did with Sardar Patel and his daughter ManibenIJ How they treated Morarji DesaiIJ They don’t like Gujarat, and they were full of bias against the people of Gujarat,’’ Modi said while addressing a massive gathering of BJP workers on the
outskirts of Gandhinagar to mark the culmination of the two-leg 15-day-long “Gujarat Gaurav Yatra” initiated by BJP chief Amit Shah on October 1 from Karamsad, birthplace of Sardar Patel.
Modi said the Congress did not allow Sardar Patel to become Prime Minister, and Jawaharlal Nehru neglected Patel’s daughter Maniben after the death of the Iron Man. “Forget leaders of other parties from Gujarat, the Congress insulted its own leaders,” he said, claiming that Madhavsinh Solanki was made scapegoat in the Bofors scam and had to step down unceremoniously as Foreign Minister to save the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Interestingly Madhavsinh, former Gujarat Chief Minister under whose leadership Congress got 149 out of 182 seats in 1984 Gujarat Assembly polls, is the father of current Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki.
The PM went on to say that previous Congress-led UPA Government didn’t leave single stone unturned to put him behind bars. They played vindictive politics and sent Shah to jail, he said, adding, “However the truth prevailed. Now see, where I am and where are they (Congress).’’
Modi also attacked the Congress over delay in the Sardar Sarovar dam project, saying that just because the concept of dam on the Narmada was envisaged by Sardar Patel, successive Congress Governments didn’t complete it.
Challenging the Congress to contest the upcoming Assembly polls on development plank, Modi wished that instead of barking on the issue of development, the Opposition party should contest polls on the issue. Modi’s jibe came in wake of Congress party’s social media campaign “Vikas Gando Thayo Chhe” (Development has gone mad) that has gone viral.
“Over the years, the Congress contested the polls on religious and castes issues. They always try to mislead people by terming BJP communal, anti-Dalit, anti-tribal party of upper castes and party of urban India,’’ Modi said, adding that currently highest number of Dalit and tribal MPs belong to the saffron party. The BJP has maximum number of MPs having agriculture background, he added.
Modi also touched upon the issue of GST stating that the BJP alone is not responsible for its existence. GST is not being implemented through Parlia-ment or Modi, it is through a group consisting of all the State Governments, including the Congress-ruled Karnataka and Punjab, he said, adding that participation of the Central Government in the GST council is less than one-third.
Speaking on demonetisation, Modi said that the Central Government has identified 2.10 lakh bogus companies after the note ban. Investigation into 5000 companies has been initiated and Rs 4,000 crore have been recovered from them, the PM claimed.