Congress divided India on lines of community, caste: Narendra Modi
The BJP's PM nominee said his party is focused on development and unity in the country
New Delhi: Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that while his party was focused on development and unity, it was the ruling Congress party that had divided the country on the lines of caste and community.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will form the next government because its agenda is development, Modi said at a public meeting in Sujanpur Tira town in Himachal Pradesh.
The national election is due by May, and the BJP is seen as a front-runner to replace the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance administration.
At the public meeting, Modi said people should vote for development, poverty eradication, employment for youth, and better health facilities in the general election. The government should be chosen to fulfil the needs of the people and it should be answerable to the people, he said.
“Development is the only answer to the problems of the country. Just as price rise is destroying the country, corruption is also destroying the country. We must get rid of the corrupt," Modi said in an obvious reference to the present Congress-led government that faces charges of corruption and flak for its handling of the economy.
The “country needs development, unity and brotherhood. The BJP believes in these values, but the Congress party is only involved in vote-bank politics. The Congress party has divided the country, made states fight against each other, made different castes and communities fight," Modi said.
Modi said a BJP-led government at the Centre will work for the upliftment of people who hadn’t gained much from the country’s development.
“The country needs a new vision for development. We will take steps to ensure development of people, regions, states, areas, and communities who have not been left behind in the development journey also get the benefit of development. We will be able to achieve what the Congress has not been able to do in 60 years. You have given Congress 60 years; give BJP 60 months," said Modi.
The Gujarat chief minister also tried to attract the middle class and taxpayers by promising that the BJP would distribute a percentage of black money recovered from abroad to taxpayers who had served the country by diligently paying their dues.
Accusing the UPA of being corrupt, Modi said blamed the Congress for not bringing back the huge sums of unaccounted money stashed in foreign banks.
“The black money in foreign banks belongs to the poor. These corrupt people have taken it from the poor. If the Congress party is not involved in corruption, then why is it not bringing back black money? BJP members have no problem if the government tries to bring back black money. Till the time we don’t punish the corrupt, new offenders will not learn a lesson," Modi said.
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