Nanded:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday claimed that Congress hates OBCs as it can not come to terms with the fact that a person from the Backward Classes is at the helm of the country.

Division among Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes suits Congress’ politics, but due to their unity it is losing its support base, he said, speaking at a campaign rally in Nanded for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections and Nanded Lok Sabha by-poll.

“It suits the Congress’ politics if Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes are divided. Its game plan is to divide you into different groups and communities,” he said.

“Congress hates the OBCs because it cannot digest the fact that an OBC is the prime minister for ten years and working by taking everyone along,” PM Modi said.

“They want to divide the OBC communities into small castes and snatch the power of their unity. If it happens, Congress will snatch the reservation,” he alleged.

Efforts to divide people on caste lines and deprive them of reservation were made by leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, he claimed.

There is a wave in favour of the `Mahayuti’ alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, he claimed, adding that its goal is `Viksit Bharat’.

“Hence, the BJP and its allies are chosen by the people again and again. In the Lok Sabha elections, Nanded did not vote for us. I hope you will bless me now,” he said, referring to the defeat of the BJP’s Pratap Chikhlikar by Congress’ Vasant Chavan.

In the Haryana elections, BJP created history by winning the highest number of seats, the Prime Minister said, adding that the people of Maharashtra were set to repeat the history.

”Wherever I have gone in Maharashtra in the last two months, I have this feeling that whatever couldn’t be done in the Lok Sabha elections will be corrected in the assembly polls,” he said.

“Today, there is only one slogan on everyone’s lips: BJP-Mahayuti ahe, tar gati ahe. Maharashtraachi pragati ahe (Only BJP-Mahayuti will ensure Maharashtra’s speedy progress,” he added.

BJP and its allies won 17 of 48 seats in Maharashtra in the general elections.

Congress was the root cause of the troubles of farmers in Marathwada, but under the rule of the BJP and its allies several steps were taken to ease the problem of water-scarcity and drought, the PM said.

The Marathwada water grid scheme was started by the earlier BJP-led government but the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime stopped it, he claimed, adding that the Mahayuti government revived it.

”Farmers’ interests are the most important priority, and they have been benefitting due to several welfare schemes and financial aid. In the last two years, Rs 80,000 crore-worth investment has come to Marathwada alone. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor has given a new identity to Marathwada. The rail coach factory, logistics park, Shakti-peeth Expressway have opened new avenues of employment,” PM Modi added.

Women’s empowerment was also a priority for the Mahayuti and the Union government, he said, as he listed women-centric development schemes such as PM Awas Yojana and schemes for toilets, water and electricity connections and LPG.

”PM Modi thinks big, as (during his tenure) never-before initiatives like making three crore women `lakhpati Didis’ were taken,” the prime minister said.

Congress governments were involved in several scams, but “now they have crossed all limits and broken their own record,” he said, while also accusing its leaders of flaunting Constitution copies with blank pages during the ongoing campaign in Maharashtra.

“The red book is blank with not a word of Ambedkar’s Constitution inside. It is an example of how much they hate Ambedkar,” he said.

PM Modi also accused Congress of wanting to implement its own Constitution instead of the one drafted by Dr B R Ambedkar.

The first time Congress did this was during Emergency, and now it was doing the same thing by distributing blank Constitution copies, he claimed.

Congress betrayed the Constitution by not implementing it in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said.

“The Jammu and Kashmir Constitution was different, and (the state) had a separate flag. There were no rights for Dalits. In Kashmir, Congress supported two Constitutions and in Maharashtra they talk of Ambedkar’s Constitution,” he said.

The barrier of Article 370 was broken by the BJP government, but Congress and its allies want to revive it, Modi alleged.

“Congress loves Article 370 while we love Jammu and Kashmir. Due to the abrogation of Article 370, terrorism was crushed, Diwali was celebrated and the national flag was hoisted at the Lal Chowk,” the prime minister said.

Democracy has been strengthened in Kashmir and Dalits have got their rights for the first time, he said, adding Pakistan and Congress have not liked it.

”Congress and its allies are running Pakistan’s agenda in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Will any patriotic person forgive Congress for this sin? Will you punish Congress in the election,” he asked, apparently referring to the passage of the resolution seeking restoration of Article 370 in the J&K assembly.

In a veiled swipe at former ally Uddhav Thackeray, he said Maharashtra is the land of patriotic people, and those who compromise on the nation’s interest for politics and betray late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s legacy should be taught a lesson.

Byelection to Nanded Lok Sabha seat was necessitated by the death of Congress MP Vasant Chavan.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and BJP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Chavan were also present at the rally. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)