Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday came down heavily on the Congress, saying the “dynastic party” resents everything that Indians, in general, are proud of.
He said this in reference to the Balakot “surgical strikes” in Pakistan, and the Mission Shakti that involved shooting down a live satellite in space, while addressing election rallies in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Both States are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“You saw their [the Congress’s] attitude during the surgical strikes and when India killed terrorists on their turf. When our scientists impress the world, they mock them. They discredit everything the Indians are proud of. They treat terrorists as their own. They are nowhere in the country but are praised in Pakistan,” Mr. Modi said at a rally at Aalo, which falls under the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency.
Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju is seeking re-election from this constituency. His main rival is former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki of the Congress.
The Prime Minister said the focus on service made the BJP different from the “power-hungry” Congress. “We provided five years of service, compared to their 55 years of self-centred, scam-tainted rule... The [Congress] party is geared only for creaming you off,” he said.
Claiming that his government has been trying to run the “growth engine” of a “new India,” Mr. Modi said Arunachal Pradesh got its due during the last five years.
“The State is now on India’s railway as well as aviation map.... And I feel proud when I see the daughters of Arunachal Pradesh and other States of the northeast in the SWAT team of the Delhi police,” he said.
Mr. Modi continued in the same vein at Assam’s Moran and Gohpur, accusing the Congress of duping the State for seven decades. “I cannot claim to have done all the work necessary for Assam in five years. How can I, when those who ruled your State for 70 years cannot?”
Moran and Gohpur fall under the Dibrugarh and Tezpur Lok Sabha constituencies, both dominated by tea estates where the “tea tribes” or Adivasis are a sizeable chunk of voters. Mr. Modi, inevitably, tried to relate the constituencies to his ‘chaiwallah’ past.
“Only this tea vendor can best understand the problems of tea garden labourers of Assam. We are depositing ₹5,000 twice a year in the accounts of tea garden labourers, and we are considering giving free rice and sugar to the Adivasi community,” he said.
He also claimed near-total electrification of villages in Assam where only “40% households had electricity” before the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had taken charge.
Mr. Modi began his rallies in Assam by invoking music maestro Bhupen Hazarika, Suikapha (the founder of the Ahom dynasty that ruled Assam for 600 years) and the Chutia kings who ruled before the Ahoms. He also reminded the people of Assam that they owed their existence to Sardar Vallabhai Patel, and Gopinath Bardoloi, the first Chief Minister, who prevented the State from being merged with Pakistan during Partition.
