Opposition parties least concerned about development, grabbing power their sole agenda: Nadda

Shimla, Jun 14 (PTI) BJP president J P Nadda alleged on Wednesday that the Congress and other opposition parties are least concerned about development and the service of people and their only agenda is to grab power by resorting to deceit and false promises.

Addressing a rally organised by his party at the Dhalpur Maidan in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, Nadda cautioned people about the “designs” of these parties that can even go to the extent of compromising national interests for votes and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for changing the political culture from “vote bank to report card”.

Lashing out at former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Nadda said the person whose grandmother, Indira Gandhi, had imposed Emergency in the country and muzzled democratic voices is talking about threats to democracy during his foreign visits and meeting people who are opposed to India.

The Congress came to power in some states on the basis of false promises and lies, but failed to honour those promises, he said, claiming that its record in states like Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan is dismal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president called on people to defeat the designs of such “dynastic” parties.

Accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of appeasing Muslims for the sake of vote-bank politics, he said 91.5 per cent Muslims in the state have availed the benefits of reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota, in spite of the fact that Hindus account for 72 per cent of the population in West Bengal while Muslims account for 25 per cent.

Nadda alleged that efforts are being made to issue certificates to Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingya Muslims to extend the benefits of reservation to them.

Seven districts in Rajasthan have been declared tribal districts with no reservation for OBCs, while in Punjab, 12 per cent reservation has been given to OBCs against the 25-per cent quota, he said.

The current regime at the Centre, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has transformed the government, which was known for corruption, indecisiveness and inept handling of issues till 2014, to a corruption-free, vibrant, self-reliant and development-oriented government and as a result, the country has made rapid progress in various sectors and emerged as the world’s fifth largest economy, Nadda said.

Experts have lauded India as a “bright spot” and the fastest-growing economy with the lowest inflation, he said and chided opposition leaders for crying hoarse about price rice.

Listing the Modi government’s achievements in the last nine years, Nadda talked about initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat, free foodgrains to 80 crore people, Kisan Samman Nidhi providing Rs 6,000 to farmers, Awas Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, making India self-reliant in defence production and major strides in the mobile phone manufacturing and automobile sectors.

He also mentioned the developmental projects sanctioned by the Centre for Himachal Pradesh.