I.N.D.I.A. bloc alliance of dynastic parties; half its leaders in jail, half out on bail: BJP chief Nadda

Jaipur: The opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc is an alliance of dynastic parties, half of whose leaders are in jail and half out on bail, BJP National President JP Nadda said on Wednesday.

Nadda made the remarks while addressing an election rally in Rajasthan's Jhalawar. The BJP has renominated Dushyant Singh from the Jhalawar-Baran Lok Sabha constituency.

"The I.N.D.I.A. alliance is a 'Bhrastachar Bachao Alliance (save corruption alliance)'. It has parties in which the president is from the family, the general secretary is from the family and ministers are also from the family. These are parties of the family," Nadda said.

He also alleged that the Congress had committed scams everywhere.

He asked, "Is Rahul Gandhi out on bail or not? Are Sonia Gandhi, Chidambaram, (AAP Rajya Sabha MP) Sanjay Singh out on bail or not? Are Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia in jail or not? Half the leaders of the I.N.D.I.A alliance are in jail and half (out) on bail," he said.

Nadda also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the country has progressed at a fast pace under his leadership.

"Today, India's aspiration is that there should be a corruption-free government. There should be a development-oriented government. The country progressed at a fast pace under the leadership of Modi ji," Nadda said.

Through unimagined development, India should stand as a "developed country", he said.

The BJP leader also claimed the situation in villages has changed under Modi's leadership. There were 18,000 villages with no electricity, which became electrified after Modi became prime minister in 2014.

Highlighting the development works done by the BJP-led Centre, Nadda said 3.5 lakh villages have been connected by paved roads. Eighty crore people are being given free ration, resulting in lifting 25 crore people above the poverty line.

He said 55 crore people - about 40 per cent of the population, including the poor, rickshaw-pullers, tea vendors, bus drivers, and cleaners - have been given a yearly insurance facility of Rs 5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat for serious illnesses.

In Rajasthan, the Lok Sabha elections will be held in two phases during this month.