Janjgir: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday urged the people of Chhattisgarh to elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third term in office to make India a developed nation, and ‘Bharat Mata’ a ‘Vishwa Guru’.
Sounding the poll bugle at a rally at Janjgir town in the BJP-ruled state, he also hit out at the Congress, accusing it of delaying the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya for 75 years.
“The coming (Lok Sabha) elections will decide the future of the country. These elections are to make India a fully developed nation, and to make Bharat Mata (Mother India) a `Vishwa Guru’ (world teacher),” the senior BJP leader said.
The BJP won ten out of 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2014 and nine in 2019, Shah noted, adding that in the last year’s assembly elections the people voted his party to power with a thumping majority.
“The incompetent (Congress) government neither controlled Naxalism, nor did it ensure justice to the people. It committed corruption and did injustice to the people, who then ousted it from power,” Shah said.
“The Modi government provided tap water connections to 60 crore poor people in the country including 38 lakh households in Chhattisgarh in the last ten years. Modi government has been bearing the entire cost of treatment up to Rs 5 lakh for 60 crore people under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. More than ten crore toilets were built in ten years, out of which 38 lakh were constructed in Chhattisgarh,” he said.
India has become the fifth largest economy in the world from the 10th position, and prime minister Modi himself is a “guarantee” and should be elected once again so that India becomes the third largest economy, Shah said.
“Modi worked to ensure respect for Dalits, tribals and backward class people. For the first time in 75 years of independence, daughter of a poor tribal family, Droupadi Murmu, became President of the country,” he said.
“Modi also protected the country. Article 370…had been the cause of trouble in Kashmir for years. On August 5, 2019, the Modi government abrogated Article 370 and merged Kashmir with India forever. The Modi’s government also punished terrorists by entering Pakistan’s territory and carrying out surgical strikes and air strikes,” he added.
Describing Chhattisgarh as Lord Ram’s “nanhihal” (place of one’s mother’s parents), Shah targeted Congress for not resolving the Ayodhya issue.
“Congress did not allow the issue which had been pending for 550 years to be resolved for 75 years. But Modi solved it and performed consecration of Ram Lalla (lord Ram’s idol) in Ayodhya on January 22,” he said.
The Vishnu Deo Sai-led BJP government in the state has completed 30 percent of “Modi ki guarantee” (BJP’s poll promises) so far, Shah claimed.
He appealed to the people to make a vow to ensure the BJP’s victory in all 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state and “make Modi prime minister for the third time.”
“Under the leadership of Modi, we will create a self-reliant and developed India,” Shah added.
Earlier in the day, the Union minister chaired a meeting of the BJP’s local leaders for Lok Sabha elections in Kondgaon in Bastar region.
Shah’s first public meeting in Janjgir-Champa district after the assembly elections holds significance as the BJP lost all six assembly seats within the Janjgir-Champa Lok Sabha constituency this time.
The Lok Sabha constituency, reserved for Scheduled Castes, is at present represented by Guharam Ajgalle of the BJP.
