Kicking off his campaign for the Maharashtra assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Congress of creating rift among communities by pitting one caste against another.
Giving out a message of unity, Modi said ‘ek hain toh safe hain’ (we are safe if we are united), echoing his party colleague and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s 'batenge to katenge' (if divided, we perish) slogan.
“The sole agenda of the Congress party is to make one caste fight against another. They do not want SCs, STs and OBCs to progress and get their due recognition Remember, ek hai toh safe hai,” he said.
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Modi addressed two public rallies in Dhule and Nashik and said the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra are committed to the welfare of the country.
He launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accused it of being “anti-reservation”.
“Since assuming power post-independence. Since Nehru's time, the Congress and his family opposed reservation and now their fourth generation ‘yuvraj' (prince) is working for caste divisions,” he said, referring to leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi.
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Modi dared Congress allies in Maharashtra—Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena—to get Gandhi to speak for 15 minutes in praise of Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
"Balasaheb Thackeray's contribution to the politics of the country and Maharashtra is incomparable. But not a single word comes out from the mouth of Congress leaders in praise of Balasaheb Thackeray. I challenge my friends in the MVA, they should get the Congress leaders to praise Balasaheb Thackeray and his ideology,” said the prime minister.
He compared the opposition bloc to a vehicle without wheels and brakes and said each partner was trying to occupy the driver’s seat.
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Further stepping up his attack on the grand old party, Modi said people have rejected the Congress in several states and it is surviving only with the support of its allies.
“The whole country has completely rejected the Congress due to its actions. Congress is no longer the All India Congress. Congress has now become a parasitic Congress. This Congress party is now surviving only on crutches. Be it Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or Jharkhand, in most states, Congress is in a position to contest elections only with the support of other parties,” Modi said.