PM attacks Cong for ‘only seeking power’
THE PM ALSO ACCUSED THE CONGRESS OF DELAYING THE PROLONGED DEMAND OF “ONE RANK ONE PENSION” (OROP) BY THE ARMY MEN FOR DECADES
DEHRADUN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress for “only seeking power and not knowing the value of sacrifice and service to nation” over seeking votes in the name of late chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat, whom a Congress leader had called a “roadside rowdy”.
“The Congress party’s thinking is confined to only seeking power. They have no value for sacrifice and service to nation,” Modi said a rally in Srinagar constituency of Pauri Garhwal district ahead of the February 4 state assembly election.
“Today while standing here in Pauri Garhwal, memories of Late Gen Rawat is making me emotional as he hailed from the state only. He showed the world that the people of Uttarakhand have the courage of mountains and thinking of mighty Himalayas.”
“However, I am deeply pained to see the Congress putting his cut-outs and posters in its campaign to seek votes. I can’t believe to what limit they can go for power as it was the same party which had called him a roadside rowdy when he was appointed army chief. People of Uttarakhand will never forget the thinking of Congress,” said Modi.
He also lashed out at Congress for “questioning the army during surgical strikes” inside Pakistan.
“When our jawans carried surgical strikes on the terrorism targets across border, the Congress questioned the army only. Some of their leaders in Delhi even went on TV to ask for its evidence. They also politicise the government’s move of making Gen Rawat the country’s first CDS. It just shows their hatred towards our jawans,” he said.
The PM also accused the Congress of delaying the prolonged demand of “One Rank One Pension” (OROP) by the army men for decades. “It was our government which implemented it immediately after coming to power in 2014. Also, it is only our government which is making the fifth Dham- Sainya Dham in Uttarakhand to offer our respect to the brave sons of country. Apart from the four highly revenue shrines collectively known as Char Dhams, Sainya Dham will also become the pride of Uttarakhand,” said Modi.
Citing the reconstruction and renovation works carried out by the BJP government in Kedarnath and Badrinath, he said the Congress “never bothered for the Char Dham when in power”.
“Now, after seeing the development works for the Char Dhams including the all-weather road, they have started talking about them because they see it a way to garner votes in the elections. But for BJP, the development works in Char Dham and Devbhoomi Uttarakhand is its faith, culture and dedication for public service,” said Modi.
The PM also accused the Congress of putting brakes on the development of Uttarakhand when in power at both Centre and state. “The dream of Uttarakhand as a separate state was realised by late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the people of Uttarakhand. The Congress on the other hand was against the very existence of Uttarakhand. They left no stone to crush the dreams of Uttarakhand. When the state was finally created by Vajpayee, unfortunately, the first government here was of the Congress. Their governments had put brakes on the state’s development.”
“In 2014, after the BJP came in power at Centre, one of the brakes in Delhi was removed. Then few years later in 2017, the second brake was removed from Dehradun to welcome the double engine government in state to carry out all sorts of development works. In the last five years, the double engine government did so much work that, the Congress had to make promise in their manifesto for which we have already started the work in state,” said Modi.
During his address, he cited various development works carried by the BJP government including Char Dham allweather road, Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway project and Jal Jivan Mission to provide pipped water supply to “eight lakh households of the state.”
Reacting to the allegations, Congress state general secretary Mathura Dutt Joshi said, “No matter how many rallies Modi holds in the state, people of Uttarakhand have made up their mind to throw the BJP out of power in the coming election.
“They won’t be affected with the lies spewed by the BJP and Modi because they are very well aware of the fact that it did nothing for development in the past last five years of tenure except changing three chief ministers.”