Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting at Poharadevi, in Washim district, Maharashtra, Saturday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Noting that the Congress' thinking has been "foreign" from the very beginning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that like the British rule, the “Congress family” does not consider the Dalits, Adivasis and backward classes as their equals.
“They feel that India should be ruled by only one family. That is why they have always maintained a derogatory attitude towards the Banjara community,” Modi said addressing a huge gathering of the Banjara community at Poharadevi in Manora tehsil of Washim district.
"Congress is being ruled by the urban-naxals. They think that if we all unite, then their agenda to divide the country will fail. Everyone can see how closely Congress stands with people who don’t harbour good intentions for India,” said Modi.
Coinciding with the Navratri celebrations, Modi offered prayers at the Jagdamba Mata Temple at Poharadevi and paid tributes at the Samadhis of Sant Sevalal Maharaj and Sant Ramrao Maharaj in Washim, the spiritual leaders of the Banjara community and later inaugurated the Banjara Virasat Museum.
Poharadevi is one of the important and well-known pilgrimage centres of India - which has a special significance for the Banjara community akin to Kashi.
“Our Banjara society has played a big role in India’s social life and journey of development ”, the Prime Minister said. He lauded the community’s resilience and its invaluable role in India’s development across diverse fields, including art, culture, spirituality, and trade.
Modi paid tributes to several revered figures from the Banjara community - such as Raja Lakhi Shah Banjara, who endured immense hardship under foreign rule, dedicating his life to serving society. He also remembered other spiritual leaders like Sant Sewalal Maharaj, Swami Hathiram Ji, Sant Ishwarsingh Bapuji, and Sant Lakshman Chaityan Bapu Ji, whose contributions have given India’s spiritual consciousness boundless energy.
“Our Banjara community has given many such saints who have given immense energy to the spiritual consciousness of India,” he remarked.
The Prime Minister also highlighted their tireless efforts in preserving and nurturing the country’s cultural legacy over centuries and also lamented the historical injustice when British rule unjustly branded the entire Banjara community as criminals during India's freedom struggle.
Sympathizing the farmers of Maharashtra and Vidarbha who have faced great hardships for many decades, the Prime Minister remarked that the previous governments had made the farmers miserable and poor.
Modi lambasted the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi saying that as long as it was in power in Maharashtra, it functioned with only two agendas, namely to stop the projects related to farmers and to commit corruption in the money of these projects.
Modi remarked that the funds which were sent from the Center were being diverted away from the beneficiaries.
Reminding the people that, like the present Maha Yuti government of Maharashtra which gives separate money along with the Kisan Samman Nidhi to the farmers, the BJP government used to give the same in Karnataka, the Prime Minister said that now it had been stopped with the new Government in power.
Modi also added that the farmers of Telangana are today questioning the state Government on the poll-promise of loan waivers.