RAJKOT: Stating that BJP does not work for “one particular family”, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Congress saying that people obsessed solely by elections had meted out grave injustice to great personalities like Sardar Patel and Gandhiji.
After inaugurating the Mahatma Gandhi Museum in the city, Modi said his government is striving to give these great men their due by building memorials. “We don’t work for one family. We are building Sardar’s statue befitting his tall stature. But some narrow-minded naysayers obsessed with elections smell an election plank in this too. They started making remarks on Sardar’s caste and state of origin,” Modi said.
The PM went on to say: “I am alive. Abuse me 24 hours but stop meting out injustice to such great men. They (Congress) now realize that they had forgotten Sardar, but a chaiwala giving him his due is pinching them.”
Modi will dedicate to public ‘Statue of Unity’, the world’s tallest statue at Kevadiya Colony on Sardar’s birth anniversary on October 31.
He also accused the opposition of ignoring Mahatma Gandhi’s strong ties with Rajkot. “Inauguration of this museum is an epoch-making moment. But everyone will wonder today - Didn’t Rajkot and Gandhiji have any right on reach other? Who were the elements that separated both of them?. Though this land shaped Gandhiji with education, his life was reduced to just one event..garland him on October 2 and forget him.”
Earlier in Kutch, Modi used his flagship schemes - Ujwala, Ujala and Udan - to the hilt, to give Congress some tongue-lashing. Without naming the party, he said that for 70 long years India had languished in the hands of people who were steeped in pessimism and did precious little for the nation’s development.
Modi said the BJP-led NDA government is working tirelessly towards making of a ‘Modern India’ through empowerment of poorest of the poor. “But some people are perennially steeped in negativity. When I launched Swachhata Mission, they had their own doubts. But everyone is seeing the benefits (of this drive). At least a beginning should be made. You wasted 70 years and did nothing because of your pessimistic approach. I am not here to waste time but to realize our mission to make Modern India which would have education for all children, jobs for all youths, irrigation for all farmers and affordable healthcare for the aged,” Modi said in Satapar village near Anjar on Sunday.
"The scheme of giving LPG connections to households was started in 1955. But from 1955 to 2014, only 13 crore households were benefited. In just four years since 2014, 10 crore houses have got LPG connections. In 68 years, only one airport was made operational every year. In last four years, nine new airports have started functioning. Before 2014, only 400 aircraft were flying in India, but in one year alone, orders have been placed for 900 planes," he said, referring to Ujjwala and UDAN schemes.
Modi began his one-day
Gujarat tour by inaugurating the chocolate plant of Amul Dairy in Anand. Addressing a gathering, he said Amul has not only established itself as a global brand but also emerged as an alternate model to the socialist and capitalist economic model where neither government nor industrialists call the shots.
He urged home-grown dairy giant to emerge as one of world’s top three milk processors by 2022 when Amul turns 75 while India celebrates 75 years of Independence.
PTI photo
