Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Congress-led government didn't do anything for the poor in the country for 70 years and hailed PM Narendra Modi as the "messiah of poor" as he launched the BJP's campaign for upcoming polls in Madhya Pradesh.
Addressing the 'Vijay Sankalp Sammelan' of BJP workers in Indore city, Shah said the previous Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh had stopped 51 schemes which were launched by the earlier BJP governments for the welfare of the poor.
Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known as the messiah of the poor across the country due to welfare works he has done for the poor people, Shah said.
"The Congress government which ruled the country for 70 years didn't do anything for the poor," he said.
Shah said the Congress pampered Article 370 (giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir) "like its own child" for 70 years but PM Modi revoked this article and linked Kashmir with India.
"Can anyone vote for Congress which opposed revocation of article 370 by PM Modi"? questioned Shah.
Shah set the target to win all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh to make Narendra Modi prime minister for a third time.
"People of Madhya Pradesh ensured BJP's victory in 27 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. In 2019, they handed 28 out of the 29 LS seats to BJP. In 2024, give all 29 seats to Modi ji," Shah said.
He expressed confidence that BJP will retain power in Madhya Pradesh by winning the assembly polls, due in November this year.
Shah said he visited the entire country but found the BJP organisation in Madhya Pradesh to be the best.
“Leaders sitting on dais can never win elections for BJP. It is the worker sitting at poll booths who can make BJP victorious.
"Resolve to break all the records of victory in Madhya Pradesh in 2023 to form a government and make Modi ji the PM for the third time by winning all 29 LS seats in Madhya Pradesh during the 2024 polls,” Shah said.
He said it was PM Modi who revived shrines in India after Ahilyadevi Holkar and cited examples of the upcoming Ram mandir in Ayodhya, (construction of corridors of) Kashi Vishwanath and Mahakal temples and gold work at the Somnath temple.
Blaming Congress for the delay in the construction of the Ram temple, Shah said that PM Modi performed bhumipujan for building the temple in Ayodhya as soon as the Supreme Court passed orders.
"PM Modi has raised the flag of India all over the world. Slogans being raised for Modi in the world are for the people of India," he said.
The Union home minister further said that PM Modi has secured the borders of India.
“When the UPA government was in power from 2004 to 2014, every other day, anyone from Pakistan used to come and go away after firing bullets and throwing bombs. The then Central government did not even speak a word,” he said.
When the Modi government came to power, Pakistan felt they could do it (sending terrorists to India) once again, he said.
"In Uri and Pulwama, they (terrorists) attacked Army and CRPF personnel. They forgot that the UPA government is not in power but it is the government of BJP. (They forgot) that Narendra Modi is the prime minister and not the 'mauni baba' Manmohan Singh," Shah said.
Within 15 days, Army personnel carried out a surgical strike and an air strike by entering Pakistan and blowing up terrorists to pieces, he added.
Shah said the previous Congress government headed by Kamal Nath stopped 51 schemes which the BJP governments had launched for the welfare of the poor.
During his speech, Shah repeatedly used terms like "Mr Bantadhar" and "corruption Nath", which are viewed as swipes at Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath, respectively.
Shah asserted the "double engine" governments of the Centre and state would make Madhya Pradesh the number one state in the country. He gave data on the help extended by the Centre to MP.
"Within just one-and-a-half years in the previous government of Kamal Nath, more than 18,000 class-I officers were transferred. During his tenure, only one industry started with the help of middlemen- the 'transfer industry'. This reminded the people about the rule of Mr Bantadhar," he said.
Shah said the annual budget of Madhya Pradesh during the erstwhile Congress government was just Rs 23,000 crore, while the incumbent government of Shivraj Singh Chouhan has presented a budget of Rs 3.14 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24.
Notably, the BJP had used the term "Mr Bantadhar" against the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh, in the campaign led by Uma Bharti during the 2003 assembly elections.
Kamal Nath was termed as the “corruption Nath” in posters with his picture put up by unidentified people in MP last month.
Shah also said PM Modi saved India from the COVID-19 pandemic by offering vaccines to 130 crore people.
"The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh turned the state into a developed one by lifting it from the BIMARU status which was the legacy of Congress," Shah added.
Earlier in the day, Shah visited Janapav Kuti, considered the birthplace of Lord Parshuram, in Indore district and offered prayers.
Shah was offered 'angavastram' by priests and he prayed amid Vedic chants.
