'They will turn MP into bimaru state': Modi likens Congress to rusted iron, accuses party of indulging in 'adventure tourism'

Taking a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent meetings with various sections of working-class people, PM Modi at a rally at Bhopal said that the lives of poor people have no meaning with those born with silver spoons who are now indulging in adventure tourism by making videos with them. Modi also said if voted to power, Congress will make MP a ‘bimaru’ state.

Addressing a rally of the party’s karyakartas at Bhopal’s Jubilee Grounds, Modi said that first time voters are lucky that they did not witness the corruption under the Congress. “I will say that those who have not witnessed Congress rule are lucky; during the Congress government, it was corruption and bad policies all around. The Congress ruled Madhya Pradesh for a long time after India gained Independence, and what did it do? It turned MP into a ‘BIMARU’ state,” Modi said. Bimaru, short for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, was used to describe the grouping of these states which lay at the bottom of developmental parameters. 

Modi was addressing a rally, ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’, which marked the end of a series of rallies that were carried out across the state called the ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatras’; the rallies touched 223 of the state's 230 assembly seats. The programme was also held to pay respects to Jana Sangh co-founder Deendayal Upadhyaya on his birth anniversary. 

Modi urged voters to make informed decisions keeping in mind the state’s development. “Now is the time to make MP developed. If Congress comes to power, a party with a history of corruption, this crucial time will be wasted. Whenever Congress has gone, they have destroyed the states. MP needs to be saved; we can’t see the state getting looted,” PM Modi said.

Modi also tried to counter Gandhi’s allegation against the BJP that it has sidelined the OBC community; on Monday at a rally in Raipur Gandhi repeated a charege he made during the Special Session of Parliament – that among the 90 secretaries of the central government, only three are from the OBC community. “The BJP made poor, women, exploited and deprived, SC, ST and OBC the biggest beneficiaries of development. The guarantee of preference given to the deprived by Modi has been fulfill by taking one step after another,” Modi asserted.