Prime Minister Manmohan Singh charged the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) of doing politics of dividing the people on caste and communal line and appealed to vote for secular forces as the country could only progress when all people of all caste and religion would work unitedly.
“Congress is an old party and always cared for the people and the country. The development of the country was only due to the efforts of the Congress,” he said. Without taking the name of BJP leader Amit Shah or Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan, PM alleged that these leaders are just interested in dividing the society for their mere vote politics. “These political parties are just interested in communal flare up and have done negative politics. But UP has a mixed population and the state never accepted any communal or castist leaders or political parties,” he claimed.
Addressing his maiden election rally in Puranpur locality of Philibhit and later in Palia at lakhimpur Kheri in support of party candidates, on Saturday, Manmohan appealed to the people of the state to cautiously take decision while voting. “UP will decide who will rule the country for the next five years and it is their big responsibility that the country do not plunge into crisis,” he said while adding that UP has also sent majority of Prime Ministers. The PM also said that Congress should answer all the criticism made by the BJP and other parties. Though admitting that his government could not do what was needed in some sector, but in the most areas the development was astronomical. “We have controlled the inflation while for ending corruption, the Congress government had brought the RTI Act,” he said.
Manmohan Singh, during his 30 minutes speech, said the voters should vote on the national issues during this elections rather than showing their concern for the regional or local matters. Terming the poll manifesto of the BJP as a copy of the Congress manifesto, the PM said there is nothing new in the BJP manifesto besides they delayed it just only to copy the Congress issues.
The PM said people voted to power the Congress in 2009 after their successful five year tenure from 2004.” I think this time too, people will give Congress another chance,” he claimed. Narrating about the achievement of the UPA-2 government, he said Food Security Act and the amended land Acquisation Act were among the some of the major works done by the government for the poor people of the country.
The PM was accompanied by Congress General Secretary and in-charge of UP Avinash Pandey and Congress candidate from Pilibhit Sanjay Kapoor and candidate from Kheri, Zafar Ali Naqvi. BJP leader and former Union minister Menaka Gandhi is the candidate from Pilibhit which goes to poll on April 17.