In poll-bound Rajasthan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched his party’s month-long pan-India campaign, “Maha Jansampark” from Ajmer and urged people not to be ‘misled’ by “the guarantee habit” of the Congress which he said “is not new but 50-years-old.”
Addressing a public rally at Ajmer, Modi said people of Rajasthan have suffered on account of policies of the Congress which is in the habit of “tricking people”.
“Fifty years ago, the Congress guaranteed that it will remove poverty. But it turned out to be their biggest betrayal to the poor. It has been a policy of the Congress to mislead the poor.”
“The Opposition insulted the hard work of 60,000 labourers (Shramik) and the sentiment of the country,” by boycotting the inauguration of the new parliament, said Modi.
The rally marked the start of a series of BJP public meetings over a month in a major outreach campaign as the party completes nine years in power at the Centre.
Modi compared the “slow speed” of vaccination coverage in the country under the Congress with its speed under the BJP Government at the Centre. “When there was a Congress Government, the vaccination coverage could reach only around 60 per cent.
At that time, 40 out of 100 pregnant women, and children could not receive life-saving vaccines. Had there been a Congress Government (now), 100 per cent vaccination coverage in the country would have taken 40 more years. Several generations would have passed by then. Can you imagine the number of poor women and children who would have died in the absence of life-saving vaccines?” Modi said.
Modi launched the BJP’s month-long country-wide ‘Maha Jansampark’ which includes over 51 huge rallies, public meetings at more than 500 places, and over 600 Press conferences in over 500 Lok Sabha and 4,000 Vidhan Sabha constituencies. Around five lakh “distinguished families” will also be contacted in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In the backdrop of the Congress winning the Karnataka elections where it offered five pre-poll guarantees, Modi in his rally cautioned voters in Rajasthan not to be swayed by the Congress’ guarantees.
“This ‘guarantee habit’ of the Congress is not new, it is old. 50 years ago, the Congress gave the ‘garibi hatao’ slogan to the country. This is the Congress party’s biggest treachery with the poor”, said Modi.
He further said, “The Congress’ strategy has been to trick the poor. People of Rajasthan have suffered due to this. The policy of the Congress has been to cheat the poor and make them suffer. The people of Rajasthan have also suffered a lot due to this.”
Reminding people of nine years of his Government at the Centre, Modi said, “Nine years of BJP Government were dedicated to the service of the people of the country, good governance and welfare of the poor”.
All top BJP leaders from Rajasthan, including the freshly-inducted Law Minister Arjun Meghwal accompanied Modi during the rally.