From terrorism to free food grain, PM Narendra Modi spoke about a range of topics as he launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Opposition – Congress and Aam Aadmi Party – at his rallies in poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday.
The key campaigner for the BJP, Modi addressed rallies at Netrang, a tribal area of Bharuch district in poll-bound Gujarat, and Kheda.
ALSO READ | ‘Congress Attacked Me Instead of Terrorists’: PM Modi Strikes Back at ‘Vote Bank Politics’ in Gujarat Rally
At his rally in Netrang, Modi said that the entire world was amazed at how India has come out of such a big pandemic of COVID-19 in such a short span. In Kheda, he attacked the Congress for its “soft approach towards terrorism”.
A look at his five top quotes of the day:
- ON TRIBALS: “The Congress has no respect for tribals in the country…We decided to make our tribal daughter (Droupadi Murmu) the president of the country. We went to the Congress with folded hands to accept her (support her candidature), but they opposed. We put all our might and made the tribal daughter win the election,” Modi said. “Be it Birsa Munda or Govind Guru, the Congress did not give respect to tribal leaders of the country,” he further alleged.
- ON COVID: “The whole world faced such a terrifying pandemic. If someone gets sick at our home, we take four to five years to come out of it (financial effect). We faced the pandemic in such a big country. But the way we came out of it, the entire world is amazed. They are not able to understand how it happened,” Modi said. “Factories got closed; people had to go back to their villages. In such circumstances, our first concern was there should be enough food for poor people; a child of a poor should not go to sleep without food. So we have been providing free ration to 80 crore people for the past three years, Rs 3 lakh crore has been spent on the scheme,” he said. ”Secondly, to fight the pandemic, vaccination was crucial. Even now, many countries are struggling to vaccinate their entire population. We have given more than 200 crore doses of anti-coronavirus vaccine. After two doses, we provided a booster dose for free,” Modi said.
- ON DIGITAL INDIA: The PM said that the Digital India campaign has brought about a revolution in the country. “If the Congress was in power, your mobile bill could have been around Rs 4,000 to 5,000 per month, which is minimal now. We made data affordable,” he said.
- ON PMAY: Speaking on the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), he said that in the past, specification of houses built under government schemes were set by the people sitting in Gandhinagar or Delhi. “But we changed the rules. How can a person sitting in Delhi know what is the requirement of a tribal person who is into poultry farming? We said that you should trust our people as nobody will build an inferior quality home for themselves,” the PM said.
- ON TERRORISM: “We caught terrorists in Gujarat, but the then Congress government in Delhi was saving terrorists for vote bank politics. During the Batla House encounter, Congress leaders cried in support of terrorists. Even terrorism is vote bank for Congress. It’s not just Congress now, several such parties have risen, who believe in politics of shortcut and appeasement. Your one vote in 2014 has created a lot of difference in killing terrorism in the country. Let alone cities of the country, terrorists have to think a lot even before attacking our borders. But the Congress questions our surgical strikes,” he said in Kheda.
With PTI inputs
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