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Acknowledging the rally in Jharkhand's Gumla distric, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday said it showed that the power of democracy still prevails over the gun.
"The Maoists have boycotted the election. They have told people not to attend my rally and have placed a ban. But the crowd here shows how the power of democracy prevails over the gun," he said.
Recalling Mahatma Gandhi, Modi appealed to the Maoists to drop their weapons and shun the path of violence, saying the country needs development more than violence and bloodshed.
"I salute the people who have gathered here despite the Maoist threat. I want to see a plough in the hands of our young people in place of guns," he added.
He said Jharkhand was given by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and added that many Congress governments have come and gone, but they have never acknowledged the presence of tribals in our country.
"It was Atalji, who was the first to work towards development of the tribals. He constituted a separate ministry for the welfare of the tribals. He even allocated a part of the budget for the tribal development," he added.
"The tribal community knows that only the BJP Government can work towards their development," he added.
He said the state has so much coal and iron ore but there is lack of will power in the government. This had resulted in migration of the people in search of job and education.
"The state is still deprived because of all these ministers are stealing from coal mines. They have stolen even the coal of this country. This has led to destruction," he added.
Taking a jibe at former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan, Modi said: "We heard of different taxes like the sales tax, income tax, but there was a 'Jayanthi' tax in Delhi. It was a tax for environment clearances. They don't clear your file until you pay this tax."
On the Congress poll manifesto, Modi said: "A manifesto should be the 'Gita', 'Bible' or 'Quran' of any party. It should not be a paper of deceit. But, the Congress has violated the sanctity of the manifesto and has turned it into a political weapon."
"They said they will control price rise. They said they will provide employment. Ask them how much they actually did from what they promised in their previous manifesto. Only then will this trend of fake manifestos will stop," he said.
He appealed to the people to give him given them 60 months as compared to 60 years given to the Congress and added that he will serve them good.
