In Lucknow, Modi says Muslims not well-off in state
3 March 2014 11:51 PM GMT
‘Samajwadi Party and Congress only look at you all as voters not as humans beings. They want to grab power by dividing the society on religious lines. Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideas of secularism lies in the principles of ‘India first’, Sarvadharma Sadbhav, jodo aur agey badho (unite and march forward),’ the Gujarat chief minister said.
Addressing the eighth and the last Vijay Shankhnaad rally in Lucknow here at Ramabai Ambedkar ground, Modi said Muslims had always been given raw deal in UP. ‘In fact, they are too poor that they can’t even afford to go to Haj. In Gujarat against the quota of 4,800, there were applications for 38,000, but in UP against the quota of 32,000, just 35,000 people showed their interest to go to Haj,’ he said.
'I come from a poor background, a tea seller and the BJP has made me a prime minister candidate. The next decade is for the poor, it is a decade to bring about change in the conditions of the poor. I will be a chowkidar ( watchman) for the poors,’ he said.
Modi said that on Sunday Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) has accepted his defeat. He has accepted that he can’t compete with the numbers that come in our rallies. ‘Today I’m happy that Netaji was forced to talk about development in his speech – this is his second defeat. But how can you compare with Gujarat where electricity is 24x7 while in UP there is reservation on power supply. The riots are rampant and law and order situation is in bad shape in the state, while Gujarat is a peaceful state, Modi said.
The Gujarat CM said there had been more than 20,000 cases of atrocities against women in one year in UP but Netaji is asking us to explain our actions?
‘Netaji, your ‘song-dance’ politics may not work with us. Please stop using the name of Ram Manohar Lohia. There are two factions of the Samajwadi Party – Samajvirodhi Party (anti social) and Sukhwadi Party (those who believe in their own comfort). Netaji, you aren’t bothered about development, only interested in vote bank politics,’ he said.
He said that UP is 10 times bigger than Gujarat but only 10 per cent of the villages get electricity. ‘Netaji you asked for sher (Lion) from Gujarat. You also wanted Amul. We have provided you everything you wanted but still you are unable to move forward on the development front,’ he said.
Talking about the Union ministers of UP, Modi said, ‘Look at the ministers from UP sitting in Delhi. Ek mantri koyla kha gaye, dusre mantri aise hain jinhone kaha 70 lakh ka brashtachar koi ghapla hai kya?
He asked the people to go to the streets of UP. ‘Look at the unemployment. But the ministers are busy talking about secularism. Poverty, education, agricultural development take a back seat here, he added.
Modi also expressed his concern over the hailstorm that struck in many places in the state in which farmers here have suffered heavy losses. In this difficult time, I stand by my farmer friends,’ he said while also wished the students appearing for the board exams.
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