Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the country's people are with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on demonetisation and have wholeheartedly supported his drive against black money.
Addressing a mammoth public rally in Kannauj, the parliamentary constituency of Dimple Yadav, wife of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Prime Minister said the groundswell of support for his note ban drive was seen in successive electoral victories for the BJP in various elections held across the country.
"After November 8, the BJP has won in a major way in local bodies and municipal corporation polls in Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, MLC graduate constituency polls in UP, by-polls in MP and Rajasthan," Modi said.
"Only recently, we have made major gains in Odisha, a state we never had enough presence in," he observed while reiterating his commitment to weeding out graft and black money from the system.
"In my view, governments are for the welfare of the poor, the marginalised and the weaker section, and I am making all efforts to ensure that happiness comes to such people," he said.
Thanking the people of Uttar Pradesh for the overwhelming mandate in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Modi pointed out that even when 71 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh chose the lotus symbol, Kannauj stuck to its loyalty for Samajwadi Party.
"Shayad apne aankhon ki sharm ke liye aisa kiya hoga (Maybe it did this to save itself from embarrasment)," he said while pointing out how Kannauj was traditionally a seat from where Mulayam Singh Yadav, then his son Akhilesh Yadav and now Dimple Yadav were elected MPs.
Ruing the poor situation of healthcare and education in the state, the Prime Minister said time had come to change all this.
"My government has taken a decision yesterday where the price of stents used in cardiac ailments has been brought down considerably but the media has not reported it well enough," he said, adding that this was a giant leap in making healthcare affordable for the poor and the middle class.
He also attacked the Samajwadi Party for the "lavish lifestyle" of their leaders and said while he himself had not even a car of his own, the Yadav clan could easily boast of the best and most expensive 200-plus cars. He was apparently taking a snipe at SP mentor Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger son's fleet of cars, including a Rs 6 crore Lamborghini he clicked and flaunted in social media recently.
Asking the people to question Dimple Yadav, the local MP, on why the food processing park she promised had not yet taken shape, the Prime Minister also ridiculed the SP-Congress alliance.
Taking a dig at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who recently said at a rally that his party proposes to set up "a potato factory", the Modi said such was the love of this leader for farmers that he was not even aware whether potatoes are grown in factories or fields.
Suggesting that the Congress was in cahoots with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as well, the Prime Minister said it was evident as in their first joint press conference where Akhilesh Yadav had bluntly spoken about BSP chief Mayawati, but Rahul Gandhi had refrained from attacking her.
"Mulayam Singh-ji knows the character of the Congress, but his immature son does not -- after elections he too will understand this," Modi said in an apparent reference to speculation that post-poll the BSP and Congress could come together.
"But the leaders of these parties do not know that the people of Uttar Pradesh have made up their mind to root them out and vote for the BJP," he added.
Modi said schools in UP do not have teachers in adequate numbers. "Is this how the poor of India will be empowered?"
"What is 'up' in Uttar Pradesh is crime rate, migration of youth for jobs, corruption, riots, poverty, mortality rate, school dropouts," he added.
Modi urged the electors to vote for the BJP, saying the party was their hope for growth and development.
--IANS
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