Mumbai: PM Modi has the right words for each constituency. At BKC on Friday, he reached out to the middle class, lauding them for their contribution to the nation’s development. He said that his government could successfully run various schemes because the middle class is honest and thinks of the country’s well-being.
More important, the middle class was ready to make sacrifices. “I just made one appeal and they decided to forego LPG subsidies,” he said.
Likewise, around 40 lakh senior citizens refused to avail of the train concession meant for them. “As against this, the Congress had insulted the middle class by dubbing it as selfish. But, we thanked the middle class and acknowledged its contribution while presenting the general budget.
I am proud of the middle class,” he said. Warming up to his theme, he added that the Congress manifesto does not say anything about the middle class. Given a chance, they will burden it with more taxes.‘‘They are synonymous with corruption and inflation,’’ he added. Sharing the dais with the PM at BKC were Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Republican Party of India RPI (A) leader Ramdas Athawale.
Likewise, complementing the city for its spirit and resilience, he said Mumbaikars went to work even the day after 26/11. They were angry, they had witnessed an outrage, but they were not deterred, he added. Modi also thanked the city’s fishermen, sweepers and dabbawalas for keeping the city running under all circumstances.
Responding to Pragya Tha-kur’s controversial remarks about Hemant Karkare, Modi emphasised that everyone needs to respect martyrs. “The Congress, however, has created such an atmosphere that everyone treats policemen as punching bags,” he said.
He further said that the grand old party was struck in the last century and cannot understand the aspirations of the modern youth. He also predicted that the Congress would not cross 50 seats in the election. Running down the party further, he said this time it was contesting the least number of seats ever.
Changing gears and patting his government on the back, day, he said India is the fastest growing economy in the world and there is more foreign investment coming than ever before. Likewise, India is manufacturing more mobiles than ever before. ‘‘Once upon a time, a telephone bill was a huge chunk of the budget of a middle class family.
But due to efforts of the government, calling is almost free, data is also the cheapest in the world,’’ he added, citing one of his accomplishments. ‘‘In the last 5 years, we have increased the number of taxpayers, not tax. Our policy is exactly 180 degrees different from that of the Congress,’’ he asserted.