The BJP’s ‘sankalp patra’ (manifesto) for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls is a concrete guarantee of a new, capable and developed India, while the Congress’ manifesto is divisive and is inspired by appeasement politics, Union Minister Rajnath Singh said on April 28.
The Congress failed to eradicate poverty during its long rule, while the Narendra Modi government managed to get 25 crore citizens out of poverty in the past 8-9 years, Mr. Singh said.
"The Congress lacks leadership, policy and intention to take the country forward. The BJP government is committed to bringing India among the top three economies by 2027. Our sankalp patra is the concrete guarantee of a new, capable and developed India. The Congress' manifesto is divisive and inspired by appeasement," he claimed.
Asserting that India will become the world's third-largest economy by 2027, Mr. Singh said there were several reasons for it, foremost among them being the strong and credible leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has vision, mission and passion. On the other hand, the Congress does not have a leader, policy or intention, adding that the party was the "biggest organiser" of the "Olympics of corruption" that was played in 10 years of UPA rule.
On eradicating poverty, corruption
"The Congress talked about ending poverty since the times of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. But failed to do so despite ruling for over 50 years. In just the last 8-9 years, our government has succeeded in bringing 25 crore people above the poverty line," Mr. Singh said.
He asserted that the Modi government was still not content and wanted to completely eradicate poverty from the nation in the next 5-10 years.
He also said the BJP has already started its Lok Sabha victory march from Gujarat's Surat, where the party's Mukesh Dalal won unopposed after the nomination form of the Congress' Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected and others in the fray withdrew.
"However, the Congress is claiming democracy is in danger in the country. What is the basis for this? Even before this, in Lok Sabha, 28 members were elected unopposed, which included members from Congress, Samajwadi Party, National Conference etc. The Congress is talking such things out of the desperation of defeat," the senior BJP leader said. It was the Congress which had put democracy in danger by imposing Emergency and President's Rule in States several times, he added.
Highlighting the BJP government's fight against corruption, Mr. Singh said the Enforcement Directorate has seized property over ₹1 lakh crore, and cash worth ₹22,000 crore since 2014. He claimed the low voter turnout in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls was because supporters of the opposition INDI alliance were not showing up at the booths since they know it will not form government.
