Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the Congress of resorting to minority appeasement and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in contrast focuses on the welfare of tribals, Dalits, the poor and backward classes. Shah also expressed confidence that his party would win over 150 seats in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, due in November this year.
The Home Minister was addressing a public rally during a function organised to flag off the BJP’s Jan Ashirwad Yatra’, a mass-contact programme, in Mandla of Mahakaushal region. Quoting former PM Manmohan Singh’s statement that minorities must have the first claim on resources, he said the Congress was “too much into” the appeasement of minorities but the situation changed when Modi became the PM in 2014.
“After becoming PM, [Modi] said that his government would work for the welfare of tribals, Dalits, the poor and backward classes who have the right to resources,” Shah said. “Now, you have to choose between these two ideologies,” he added.
Shah said that during the BJP’s nine-year tenure, the Modi government at the Centre has worked for the empowerment of these sections of society. The budget for tribal welfare has been increased to Rs 1.19 lakh crore by the Modi government from Rs 24,000 crore during the Manmohan Singh government, he said.
The BJP is conducting “Jan Ashirwad Yatras” from five different locations in MP. These programmes will culminate on 25 September in Bhopal with a “Karyakarta Mahakumbh”. PM Modi is expected to address BJP workers in Bhopal that day. Following his Mandla engagement on Tuesday, Shah will head for Sheopur in the Gwalior-Chambal region where he will address a public rally after inaugurating another Jan Ashirwad Yatra, a party spokesperson said. He will be flagging off another yatra on 12 September in poll-bound Chhattisgarh as well and BJP chief JP Nadda will head a second rally on 16 September. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the culmination of these yatras in Bilaspur as well.