Nanded:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday claimed that Congress hates OBCs as it can not come to terms with the fact that a person from the Backward Classes is at the helm of the country.

Division among Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes suits Congress’ politics, but due to their unity it is losing its support base, he said, speaking at a campaign rally in Nanded for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections and Nanded Lok Sabha by-poll.

“It suits the Congress’ politics if Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes are divided. Its game plan is to divide you into different groups and communities,” he said.

“Congress hates the OBCs because it cannot digest the fact that an OBC is the prime minister for ten years and working by taking everyone along,” PM Modi said.

“They want to divide the OBC communities into small castes and snatch the power of their unity. If it happens, Congress will snatch the reservation,” he alleged.

Efforts to divide people on caste lines and deprive them of reservation were made by leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, he claimed.

There is a wave in favour of the `Mahayuti’ alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, he claimed, adding that its goal is `Viksit Bharat’.

“Hence, the BJP and its allies are chosen by the people again and again. In the Lok Sabha elections, Nanded did not vote for us. I hope you will bless me now,” he said, referring to the defeat of the BJP’s Pratap Chikhlikar by Congress’ Vasant Chavan.

In the Haryana elections, BJP created history by winning the highest number of seats, the Prime Minister said, adding that the people of Maharashtra were set to repeat the history.

”Wherever I have gone in Maharashtra in the last two months, I have this feeling that whatever couldn’t be done in the Lok Sabha elections will be corrected in the assembly polls,” he said.

“Today, there is only one slogan on everyone’s lips: BJP-Mahayuti ahe, tar gati ahe. Maharashtraachi pragati ahe (Only BJP-Mahayuti will ensure Maharashtra’s speedy progress,” he added.

BJP and its allies won 17 of 48 seats in Maharashtra in the general elections.

Congress was the root cause of the troubles of farmers in Marathwada, but under the rule of the BJP and its allies several steps were taken to ease the problem of water-scarcity and drought, the PM said.

The Marathwada water grid scheme was started by the earlier BJP-led government but the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime stopped it, he claimed, adding that the Mahayuti government revived it.

”Farmers’ interests are the most important priority, and they have been benefitting due to several welfare schemes and financial aid. In the last two years, Rs 80,000 crore-worth investment has come to Marathwada alone. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor has given a new identity to Marathwada. The rail coach factory, logistics park, Shakti-peeth Expressway have opened new avenues of employment,” PM Modi added.

Women’s empowerment was also a priority for the Mahayuti and the Union government, he said, as he listed women-centric development schemes such as PM Awas Yojana and schemes for toilets, water and electricity connections and LPG.

”PM Modi thinks big, as (during his tenure) never-before initiatives like making three crore women `lakhpati Didis’ were taken,” the prime minister said.

Congress governments were involved in several scams, but “now they have crossed all limits and broken their own record,” he said, while also accusing its leaders of flaunting Constitution copies with blank pages during the ongoing campaign in Maharashtra.

“The red book is blank with not a word of Ambedkar’s Constitution inside. It is an example of how much they hate Ambedkar,” he said.

PM Modi also accused Congress of wanting to implement its own Constitution instead of the one drafted by Dr B R Ambedkar.

The first time Congress did this was during Emergency, and now it was doing the same thing by distributing blank Constitution copies, he claimed.

Congress betrayed the Constitution by not implementing it in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said.

“The Jammu and Kashmir Constitution was different, and (the state) had a separate flag. There were no rights for Dalits. In Kashmir, Congress supported two Constitutions and in Maharashtra they talk of Ambedkar’s Constitution,” he said.

The barrier of Article 370 was broken by the BJP government, but Congress and its allies want to revive it, Modi alleged.

“Congress loves Article 370 while we love Jammu and Kashmir. Due to the abrogation of Article 370, terrorism was crushed, Diwali was celebrated and the national flag was hoisted at the Lal Chowk,” the prime minister said.

Democracy has been strengthened in Kashmir and Dalits have got their rights for the first time, he said, adding Pakistan and Congress have not liked it.

”Congress and its allies are running Pakistan’s agenda in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Will any patriotic person forgive Congress for this sin? Will you punish Congress in the election,” he asked, apparently referring to the passage of the resolution seeking restoration of Article 370 in the J&K assembly.

In a veiled swipe at former ally Uddhav Thackeray, he said Maharashtra is the land of patriotic people, and those who compromise on the nation’s interest for politics and betray late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s legacy should be taught a lesson.

Byelection to Nanded Lok Sabha seat was necessitated by the death of Congress MP Vasant Chavan.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and BJP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Chavan were also present at the rally. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

At least 93 people have suffered from stomach infections after apparently consuming contaminated water from a well at a village in Maharashtra’s Nanded district, officials said on Monday.

The Mugaon Tanda village, where the incident took place, has 107 houses with a population of 440, as per the officials.

Ninety three persons approached a local health centre on June 26 and 27 with complaints of abdominal pain and loose motions, district health officer Balaji Shinde told PTI.

While 56 patients were treated in the Mugaon Tanda village, 37 others were referred to a primary health centre in neighbouring Manjaram village and later discharged, he said.

A team of doctors was stationed in the Mugaon Tanda village, the official said.

“We conducted a survey and the possible source of infection was a well from where water is supplied to the villagers. The well has been sealed and water from a nearby filter plant is being made available to the villagers,” he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Enough medicine orders were not placed to meet the drug demand of government hospitals in Maharashtra, alleged a drug’s body after an acute medicine shortage led to a hospital tragedy in the state.

Haffkine Biopharmaceutical placed only 12 orders this year against the usual annual average of up to 2,000 orders to supply medicines to medical colleges and government hospitals, said Abhay Pandey, President, All Food and Drug License Holders Foundation.

The explosive charge comes after 31 patients died in a span of 48 hours in a government hospital in Nanded.

“This year, Haffkine has provided only 10% of the medicines to the medical colleges of Maharashtra state against the demand, due to which there is a shortage of medicines in the medical colleges,” said Mr Pandey.

Haffkine is responsible for meeting 70% of the medicine demands, he added.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

A total of 65 patients were being treated at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharashtra government’s facility in Nanded against the sanctioned strength of 24 beds when 11 infants died at the NICU between Sep 30 and October 1, a senior doctor said on Tuesday.

As many as 24 deaths, including of 12 infants, occurred at the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Nanded in 24 hours between September 30 and October 1, state health department officials had said.

A senior doctor at the facility told PTI on Tuesday that the number of admissions in the NICU was 65 against the sanctioned strength of 24 beds when 11 infants died. Another infant died in the Paediatrics Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Dr Kishor Rathod, who heads the Paediatrics department at the Nanded facility, denied that the shortage of medicine was the likely cause behind the deaths of the infant patients.

“Out of the eleven deaths that occurred in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), eight (infants) were referrals who were shifted here at a very critical stage. They weighed below 1,000 grams,” he added.

He said another ward- the Paediatrics Intensive Care Unit (PICU)- at this facility has a capacity of 31 beds but we were treating 32 patients.

Dr Rathod further said the Nanded facility had recorded some last-minute referrals (on September 30 and October 1) but no patient was denied admission.

“Considering both the wards, a total of 156 children were admitted of which 96 were in the PICU and NICU together when the deaths occurred,” Dr Rathod said.

He said at least 90 beds are needed only for the general ward even though the number of admissions is much more.

Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital Dean Dr S R Wakode had told reporters that the 12 infants, who died, comprised six males and six females. Most of them were in the 0-3 day age group and had “very low weight”.

A three-member expert committee from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district has been formed with a mandate to submit a report on Tuesday, an official said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)