New Delhi : As Congress held a rally here to attack him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi projected his government as pro-poor and pro-farmer by listing out a host of schemes and lashed out at “perverted” critics for their “congenital habit” of working against BJP.
Addressing party MPs here, he dwelt at length about the measures taken for the “benefit” of the poor and the farmers and asked them to highlight this while making a contrast between his government and the previous ones on the similar lines as ‘black and white’ and ‘colour’ in the TV world.
“How much lie is being spread! But you should have trust in people and tell them confidently about our programmes, talk heart-to-heart and they will laud you,” he said, slamming those who criticise his government because of “congenital habit” of working against BJP.
[alert type=”e.g. warning, danger, success, info” title=””]All our schemes are meant for the poor, people with perverted mindset are spreading “lies” about our govt, says Modi[/alert]
To buttress his assertion about being pro-poor and pro-farmer, a combative Modi, who is accused of being pro-corporate, listed schemes like making toilets, pension, ‘beti bachao, beti padao’ (save girl, educate girl) and housing-for-all besides the “bold” decision to relax the criteria for rainfall-hit farmers to get compensation which has been increased.
To counter those attacking him, Modi asked how these programmes could be meant for the rich.
“We are working to provide house to everybody. Who are the people who do not have a house? Who will benefit from it? Rich? Are we doing it for owners of some TV channel or newspaper? Are we going to build a house for Mukesh Ambani? Who are those people who don’t have houses,” he said.
In his hour-long speech, Modi said, “All decisions I am taking are for the welfare of the poor… We are working for the poor, not for being in news but because we cannot sleep peacefully if we don’t do it. We live for the poor. We are in public life not to enjoy the power but for the welfare of the poor.”
Joined by party veteran L K Advani and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on the dais, the Prime Minister contended that he was moving with a “dream” of providing all kinds of benefits for the poor and said, “do not weigh all our policies on the scale of politics but national interest.”
He refrained from speaking on the Land Acquisition Bill against which Congress organised the rally but only made an oblique reference to it when he attacked “perverted minds” for wrongly projecting his speech in Bengaluru during the party’s National Council meeting earlier this month. “The day you chose me your leader, I said this government will be for the poor. But look at these perverted minds who have this congenital habit of working against BJP. When I spoke about the welfare of the poor in the context of Deen Dayal Upadhyay’s birth centenary and his call for the upliftment of the last man in the queue, they said Modi is speaking about the poor due to land bill. “You work against us, I have no objection. It’s your democratic right but you should not claim to be neutral. People should know you are not neutral,” he told the critics.
