Accusing the Congress leadership of losing touch with the ground reality, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday said those who cannot tell moong' from masoor daal' are now taking about farmers.
At rallies in Nagaur and Bharatpur, Modi pitched the December 7 assembly polls in Rajasthan as a battle between him, a kaamdar who does the work, and a naamdar' (dynast), a jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
He said Gandhi's close aides shamelessly called Naxals and Maoists revolutionaries, and referred to the death of a paramilitary jawan from Bharatpur in an encounter in Chhattisgarh.
Will you forgive those who have insulted the martyr of Bharatpur? he said at the rally in the city.
He said naamdar's people had called the Army Chief a street thug, recalling the row triggered months back by a remark by Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit against General Bipin Rawat.
While talking upon the Ujjwala scheme, which provides free cooking gas connections to the poor families, Modi recalled how his mother suffered from cooking on a wood-burning stove.
I am like you," he then said, setting himself apart from Rahul Gandhi."I have lived the way you are living. Neither you nor I were born with a golden spoon in the mouth like the 'naamdaar'.
Farmers figured prominently in his speeches at both rallies.
Those who do not know the difference between 'moong' and 'masoor' (the lentils) are today roaming the country and talking about farming and farmers, he said.
Those who do not have any connect with the ground reality and whose four generations had nothing to do with the common man cannot remove the pain of the people, he said.
The "naamdar" does not know anything about farming and was shedding crocodile tears for them, he said.
The prime minister said farmers would have not been debt-ridden had the previous Congress governments implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission that submitted its report to the naamdar's government.
He said the Congress governments did not have the time to look at the report, and it was his BJP government that increased the minimum support price for some crops one and half times.
Ahead of the assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi has already promised farm loan waivers within 10 days if a Congress government comes to power in the state.
Modi targeted the Congress over corruption, claiming his government found that over Rs 90,000 crore were being siphoned every year from welfare schemes.
Those who did not exist were registered at government offices and pensions, rations and scholarships were being released in their name, he said.
He claimed corruption was also rampant earlier in recruitment for government jobs.
The process of interview has now been abolished and honest candidates get jobs on merit, he said.
Modi gave credit to the people for initiatives taken by his government at the Centre, saying it was all because they had chosen to cast their vote wisely.
He said the BJP's agenda is development, be it the Centre or the states.
"Our only mantra is Sabka sath sabka vikas' (inclusive development), be it in Delhi or Rajashtan," he said.
Jyotiba Phule and Bhimrao Ambedkar are the inspiration of this mantra and this is not a political slogan, it is a dream for the welfare of 125 crore people of the country, he said, invoking the social reformers.
We are seeking votes on the basis of our work and on the basis of our mantra of development. We are not seeking vote for our grandsons or granddaughters but for your own welfare and for making your dreams come true, the prime minister said.
He said 1.25 crore families had benefitted from his government's housing scheme, including seven lakh in Rajasthan.
He said the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in the state has provided irrigation over an area of 1.5 lakh hectare.
At the beginning of his address in Nagaur, Modi remembered local seers and deities, receiving a huge response from the crowd.
Union minister of state and Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal, party candidates Mohanram Chaudhary (Nagaur), Ajay Singh (Degana) and Manju Baghmar (Jayal) and others attended the Nagaur meeting.
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