Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda on Friday said the Narendra Modi government at the Center was “proactive” as it took care of people even before they faced any problems, resulting in reduction in poverty in the country.
Addressing a public meeting in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone to highlight the achievements of nine years of the Modi regime, Nadda said poverty has come down to 10 per cent from 22 per cent nine years ago, while the “very poor” category is now is less than 1 percent. of the population.
While the PM had launched several welfare programmes, the Congress attacked him by calling him names like neech, illiterate, chaiwala (tea seller) etc.
“The Narendra Modi government is proactive and reactive. It takes care of people even before they face any problem. This can be seen in central schemes like Ayushman Bharat, which aims to protect people’s health, and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (direct benefit transfer to farmers),” Nadda said.
He said the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family, is one of the largest health schemes in the world and benefits 40 per cent of the country’s poor, irrespective of caste, creed and religion.
Criticizing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the BJP national president said that Rahul had gone to London and talked about the need to restore democracy in India, while it was his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who in 1975 Emergency was imposed, due to which 1.78 lakh people were killed. People are being sent to jail.
Nadda said when he was an MLA in 1993, a panchayat in his constituency was allotted just one house under the Indira Awas Yojana, while the Modi government has built nine crore houses in the last nine years under the PM Awas Yojana.
Nadda said world leaders are full of praise for Modi and cited examples of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling his Indian counterpart a “boss” and former US National Security Advisor John Bolton calling him a “world leader”. .
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has claimed that he is a fan of Modi, while a former US President has also spoken highly of the Prime Minister, Nadda said.
“We have overtaken Britain to become the fifth largest economy in the world. Before that (under UPA rule till 2014), we were known for corruption and 2G, coal, chopper and Commonwealth scams.”
The Congress, which is using objectionable words for the Prime Minister, is forgetting that 140 crore Indians are with him.
“According to a reputed international report, the poverty rate in the country has come down to 10 per cent from 20 per cent nine years ago. Besides, the percentage of very poor people is now less than one,” he claimed.
He said, PM Modi was concerned about the farmers and hence, he announced an annual assistance of Rs 6,000 for them (under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme).
“Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is equally concerned for the farmers and has also announced an annual assistance of Rs 6,000 for them,” he added.
Criticizing the previous Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, Nadda said it was corrupt and had stopped welfare schemes launched under the BJP rule.
“For this, you (people) can stop them in November (when assembly elections are likely to be held). Nath had removed a chapter on the Kargil war from the school (syllabus) in MP and insulted the army. Now you finish the chapter of Kamal Nath in November.
He said that CM Chouhan had announced to create one lakh (govt) jobs in the state, and more than half of them have already been provided.
Before addressing the rally, Nadda took part in a roadshow in the town falling in the state’s Nimar region.
Incidentally, the BJP lost all the six assembly seats in Khargone district in the 2018 assembly elections.
Khargone Lok Sabha seat consists of ten assembly constituencies spread over Khargone and Barwani districts. The Congress had won nine of these seats in the 2018 elections.
Elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly are due later this year.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI,