Congress worships one family, can't respect democracy: Modi
Baghpat (Uttar Pradesh), May 27: Launching a stinging attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused it of "spreading lies for political gains" and said those worshipping a single family cannot respect democracy.
Asking the people of the country to weigh their options, he, in a reference to the Congress, said that on the other side are those for whom their family is their country, while for him, the country is his family.
Terming the opposition party anti-poor and anti-Dalit, Modi said: "Whenever we announce any programme for upliftment of the backward classes, the Congress either stalls them, or it makes fun of such programs."
"They find development a joke... sanitation, building toilets for women, opening bank accounts for women a joke... Only those with anti-poor mentality can find jokes in all these issues," Modi said after inaugurating the 135-km Eastern Peripheral Expressway here.
The public rally was organized a day before the by-election in the neighboring Kairana Lok Sabha constituency.
Accusing the Congress of lying for its political gains even in the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister said the party doesn't realize its creating instability in the country.
"Now they are spreading a new lie among the farmers that if they give their land on contract farming, the government will charge them 18 per cent GST. The party which did not learn from their defeat in elections is spreading lies and misleading the farmers."
He urged the farmers not to believe in "their lies and instead complain against those who are spreading them". "They will face the full force of the law," he added.
Modi said those who worship one family cannot respect democracy. "I never expected that while opposing Modi, they will start opposing the nation."
He also accused the Congress of raising doubts when India conducted a surgical strike into Pakistan territory.
"When they were in power, various agencies released growth figures. Now when the same agencies release figures showing the growth we have achieved, they doubt those agencies," he said.
Modi said his government had done more work in the last four years than what the previous UPA governments did in ten years.
"Four years ago, we used to build 12 km of road per day, but now we are building 27 km. During four years of UPA government, they could connect only 59 panchayats with optical fibre but in the last four years, we connected over one lakh villages.
"We also promoted manufacturing in India through 'Make in India' programme and while before our government, only two factories manufactured mobile phones in India, now 120 factories are doing it. Many of them are in NCR (National Capital Region)."
Modi said while the opposition was indulging in populist politics, his party was doing welfare politics.
"Those with selfish motives shed crocodile tears for Dalit’s. They indulge in populist politics. But those who truly think of the interests of people, they do welfare politics."
The Prime Minister said his government had not only worked towards creating opportunities for Dalit’s in the last four years but also to provide security and justice to them.
"We are setting up special courts for expeditious hearing of cases of atrocities against Dalit’s. We also decided to set up a commission to divide backward classes into sub-categories so those who are extremely backward get more benefits from reservations in government jobs and educational institutions.
"The truth is that whenever we work for poor, Dalit’s and backward classes, Congress and its allies either create obstacles or make fun of the initiatives," he said.
Earlier, Modi inaugurated the Eastern Peripheral Expressway which will connect Palwal with Kundli in Haryana and reduce travel time between the two from over four hours to 72 minutes.
He also inaugurated the first nine-kilometer stretch of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
Modi said the two roads will significantly reduce pollution and traffic jams in Delhi as 30 per cent of the vehicles entering Delhi will be diverted.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
