Modi slams opposition, says opposition should be ashamed for questioning linkage of abrogation of Article 370 with Maharashtra polls

Pune: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday slammed both the Congress and Sharad Pawar led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for shamelessly raising questions over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government’s abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing a election rally in Akola, the Prime Minister said that the two opposition parties ought to be ashamed for being dismissive of the issue stating that it had no relation with the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly election. Modi further slamming the Opposition argued that the opposition did not wish for a ‘greater, united India’ and instead secretly desired a divided India for their selfish political ends.

The Prime Minister during his speech remarked “look at their shamelessness they (Congress-NCP) are saying that Article 370 has no relation with Maharashtra’s polls. That Jammu and Kashmir has no relation with Maharashtra. To such people (Opposition parties), I want to say that the entire country stands with the people of Kashmir in combating cross-border terrorism, he said, remarking that there was not a single district in Maharashtra which did not produce soldiers who laid their lives for the cause of bringing peace to Jammu and Kashmir. In his speech, the Prime Minister claimed that the public was very happy with the abrogation of Article 370, but that the opposition had drawn long faces.

Arguing that the BJP government was founded on the inspiration, self-sacrifice and thrust on social equality and nationalist fervor propounded by leaders like the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, social reformer Mahatma Phule, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Swatantray Veer Savarkar, Modi lashed out at the Congress for having denied the Bharat Ratna to Dr. Ambedkar for so long and for hurling abuse at Veer Savarkar.

The Prime Minister’s remarks come a day after the state BJP in its election manifesto pushed for awarding the Bharat Ratna to Vinayak Damodar ‘Veer’ Savarkar. He further lambasted the Congress for showing its distrust towards Dr. Ambedkar for his alleged opposition to Article 370.

Stating that he had come to Akola to seek the blessings of the public to establish an even stronger government in Maharashtra, Modi claimed that the last five years had proved that it was only the BJP-Sena coalition that could propel the State to lofty heights of development. Modi remarked that vote bank politics has proved to be the bane of Maharashtra, he said that before the BJP regime, Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra had been in the grip of bombs and terrorism.

Without naming some NCP leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned as to how the masterminds of bomb blast and terror strikes were allowed to get away and settle abroad. The Prime Minister further remarked “now, it is coming to the fore as to what relation those in power had with these masterminds (of the terror attacks in Mumbai and Maharashtra), the public, too, wants to know. Hence, the opposition has begun defaming probe agencies as they foresaw the trouble that was coming their way.”

Claiming that it was the BJP government’s drive towards development which had improved the lives of farmers and citizens in the region, the Prime Minister stated that earlier, packages used to be announced for Vidarbha, but the money never reached beneficiaries and went instead into the hands of middlemen. Now, through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana, about Rs 2000 crore has been deposited directly into the farmers bank accounts which have benefited farmers in Akola district and the Vidarbha region.