Giving a clarion call to make Bharat Congress-mukta, Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said the 'tikdi' (troika) of Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party had always played with the sentiments of the people by harping on vote bank politics and now the time had come to get rid of the threesome.
"The politics of vote bank has ruined the country. The Congress with its allies like Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party has neglected development and opted for vote bank politics. This has led to poverty, deprivation, unemployment and insecurity in the country. It is the right time to replace vote bank politics with politics of development," Modi said while addressing a rally in Kanpur's Udyan Park on Saturday.
"We will have to bury vote bank politics forever. We have to tread on the path of development oriented politics," he added. Modi, however, made no reference to the Ram temple issue saying: "The government has only one religion. It is nation first, India first. It has only one religious scripture, that is the Constitution."
It was Modi's maiden rally in Uttar Pradesh after being projected as BJP's prime ministerial candidate. Modi made a beginning, and what a beginning it was! People in lakhs were riveted to their places and they listened to Modi's 50-minute interactive speech rapt attention and responded to all his answers by raising their hands.
Hitting out at the Congress for attacking him on the issue of secularism, the Gujarat Chief Minister said the party leading the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre had only "one mantra, one chant and one medicine" for winning elections. "Congress has only one mantra, only one medicine- that of vote bank for winning elections. They chant the mantra of secularism to divide the people," he said, adding that BJP was committed to binding people together as its aim was the everyone, be it a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh or Buddhist should be good.
"Modi, Modi .", the crowd chanted as the Gujarat Chief Minister took jibes at the Congress for making false promises. "In 2009, the Congress said that price rise would be brought under control within 100 days," Modi said and then threw the question -- "Did itIJ" -- to the gallery, which roared in unison: "No".Having a dig at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi,
Modi said those born with a silver spoon in their mouth should not talk about poor and poverty. "Congress 'yuvraj' says poverty is state of mind. Then there are some Congress leaders who say one meal can be purchased at Rs 5. This is how the Congress leaders treat the poor -- they just make mockery of the poor people of this country," he said.
"Congress always makes false promises. Has the Prime Minister said a word about his failure to control inflationIJ" he asked. "Even the Congress is not saying what it has done for people in the last 10 years. It only talks about Gujarat and forgets to talk about India," he added. Aware that Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal belongs to Kanpur, Modi said "the ashes of coalscam are hanging over the skyline of Kanpur. It is ironical that an official says if he is guilty the Prime Minister is guilty number 1."
Not only Congress, even the Samajwadi Party was on the firing line of Modi. Questioning the law and order in the state, he said over 5,000 people had been killed in just one year in UP.
"There is so much insecurity in UP that people of this state now prefer to migrate to Gujarat than work here," he said. There was euphoria among BJP workers over Narendra Modi's rally. Party workers from the adjoining areas had started coming to the city since morning. People came on trucks, trains, tractor-trolleys and buses to have a glimpse of Modi. Such was the excitement among the people that they started chanting "NaMo. NaMo" as Modi came on the dais, paying a scant respect to other party leaders, including Rajnath Singh.
The city was painted in saffron hue with hoardings and banners of Narendra Modi and other senior leaders dotting all the major crossings. Inside the rally ground, the hoardings highlighted the misgovernance of the United Progressive Alliance Government, the rampant corruption and inflation.
local lawmaker Satish Mahana said that 'prabhat pheris' were taken out in favour of Modi's rallies. What this rally has really done is that it has brought party workers out of their comfort zone and made them reach the people, asking them to attend the rally. The women wing distributed pamphlets while the minority wing of the party asked Muslims to at least come and listen to what Narendra Modi said. The sweets and cakes with NaMo written over them were a big hit in Kanpur, reflecting the mindset of the people.