 "Congress must repent for undermining Ambedkar's legacy: PM Modi")
Modi, who had faced attack from Congress for trying to "approporiate" national icons, hit back asking why the successive governments of Congress did not develop the five places associated with Ambedkar during their tenure.
Listing a number of measures that his government is taking to carry forward the vision of Ambedkar including on maritime projects and the empowerment of weaker sections, Modi said,"for so many years, the vision of Ambedkar was undermined."
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"Some persons are distressed why Modi is doing all this. This is a matter of our dedication and conviction. We believe that social harmony can be achieved only by following the path shown by Baba Saheb. I feel proud to work at the feet of Baba Saheb."
Referring once again to his humble origins, Modi said that if the son of a woman, who used to fetch water in others' houses could become Prime Minister, the credit for it goes to Ambedkar.
On his government's decision to construct a memorial at 26 Alipur Road in Delhi, which was the last home of Ambedkar, the Prime Minister asked the Congress why did it not do so in the last six decades.
"Why did you not do it in the last 60 years? When we are doing it, you are getting uneasy. You should repent over why you did not do this all these years," the Prime Minister said stepping up his offensive against the Congress.
"Those engaged in vote bank politics thought of nothing else than dividing the society," he said.
Making a pro-poor pitch, the Prime Minister accused the Congress of doing nothing on this count.
"Some people have been calling themselves the messiah of the poor for the last six decades. The account of what they have done for the poor in last 60 years is shocking even as they keep talking of the poor day and night," Modi said as he highlighted the steps taken by his government in the last two years like giving LPG connection to the poor and Jan Dhan Yojana.
Modi, whose government has often been accused by Congress of having a corporate bias, stressed that India's development won't happen through 5 or 50 cities and industrialists and foundation of villages will have to be strengthened for sustainable development and reiterated his committment to double the farmers income by 2022.
With West Bengal Assembly elections underway, Modi also
referred to Saradha chit fund scam in which the names of some Trinamool Congress leaders have figured as he spoke about challenges before the poor in saving their money.
"Sometime there is Saradha chitfund and sometime some other chitfund. The money of the poor is taken away," he said, adding that this happened because they did not have access to banks. His government has tried to change it by increasing their access to banks with Jan Dhan accounts.
"We connected the poor with the mainstream, which did not happen in the last 70 years," he said.
The Prime Minister claimed that his is a government that is accountable to people. "This is a government, which will account for every penny, every second," he said.
Making a strong pitch for developing villages, Modi said accelerating rural development could be the biggest engine to boost the growth of the Indian economy and emphasized the importance of increasing purchasing capacity of villagers.
He said that a planned development of villages can bring big changes and visions of personalities like Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi, who had written about Gram Swaraj, can create this awareness.
"The vision of Gram Swaraj of Mahatma Gandhi is yet to be completed. A change should have come after independence and the nation should have moved forward with the changing times but this did not happen," he said.
It is to executive visions of Ambedkar and Gandhi that his government had launched 'Gram Uday se Bharat Uday' programme.
All tools of development have to be directed at lifting villages, he said, adding that the whole world was "hailing" India's growth because of the government's work at empowering villages.
The Prime Minister also talked about his pet Swachch Bharat campaign and also targeted Congress over electricity not reaching in 18,000 villages after so many years after independence.
Recalling the "insult" that the dalit icon faced during his life time, the Prime Minister said Ambedkar had to taste this "poison" during his entire life time but since he was not an ordinary man, such things did not prejudice him and he showed no bitterness or anger towards any one when he wrote the Indian Constitution.
"What else can be greatness. Unfortunately, the contribution of this great human being was brushed under the carpet," Modi said.