Bokaro (Jharkhand):

The Congress and its allies want to divide the OBC community by pitting sub-castes against each other for political gains, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged today. Addressing an election rally in Jharkhand’s Bokaro, he used the slogan: “Ek rahenge toh safe rahenge”. The slogan, which means “we will be safe if we are united”, appealed to the backward castes to stay united.

The Congress, the Prime Minister said, has not been able to cross the 250 mark in Lok Sabha polls after the OBC community got reservation in the 90s. “So the Congress wants to break the OBC community and divide them into numerous castes,” the Prime Minister alleged.

The unity of castes under the OBC umbrella, he said, has made the country stronger. “But the Congress and JMM want to make them fight among themselves. They want that castes in OBC category stop considering themselves OBC and remain entangled in their own castes. I want to ask you, do you want the OBC community to disintegrate? Won’t your voice become weaker if you break? We have to remember, ‘ek rahenge toh safe rahenge’,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said many youths from Jharkhand are in the Army. “We lost many jawans due to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. A big reason was the wall of Article 370. Modi has buried that wall for ever. But the Congress and its allies don’t like this. You may not know this. The country became Independent, got a Constitution, but for seven decades, BR Ambedkar’s Constitution was not implemented, Dalits and Adivasis did not get reservation there. Modi has demolished the Article 370 wall and took BR Ambedkar’s Constitution there. You must have seen, elections took place and for the first time, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister took oath on Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution. This is Modi’s tribute to Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said.

Referring to the uproar in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly over a resolution to restore special status under Article 370, the Prime Minister said, “As soon as they formed the government, Congress and its allies have started playing their games, they passed a resolution to bring Article 370 back. JMM is also supporting them. They want to remove BR Ambedkar’s Constitution from Jammu and Kashmir again. They want to deprive Dalits, backward classes and Adivasis. They want to throw our soldiers into the fire of terror. I want to ask you, do you accept this sin by the Congress?”

The Prime Minister said the BJP would stop infiltration into the state. He said Jharkhand needs an NDA government to ensure the safety of its daughters and land owned by people. “We have to build a Jharkhand that is counted among the most prosperous in the country. I have come to seek your help and blessings. You have to make candidates of BJP, AJSU, LJP and JDU win,” he said.

The Prime Minister accused the ruling JMM and Congress of creating a “paper leak mafia” and a “recruitment mafia”. “We will strike all those involved. We will dig them out of the underworld and send them to jail,” he said. Leaks of question papers of job exams in Jharkhand is a key talking point in this election and BJP’s chosen line of attack against the JMM-Congress government.

The Prime Minister said that between 2004 and 2014, when the Congress was in power at the Centre, Jharkhand got a financial assistance of Rs 80,000 crore. “Madam Sonia ji ran the government and Manmohan Singh was made the Prime Minister. After 2014, the government in Delhi changed, you gave this sevak an opportunity to serve. In the past 10 years, we gave more than 3 lakh crore rupees to Jharkhand. Isn’t this four-fold, don’t we love you four-fold,” he said.

Jharkhand is set to vote in two phases — on November 13 and 20. Votes will be counted on November 23. 

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, said that the Centre was determined for the rapid development of Jharkhand.

The Prime Minister will be in Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur where he will flag off six Vande Bharat trains and inaugurate or lay the foundation of various development projects worth Rs 21,000 crore.

Before leaving for Jharkhand, PM Modi posted on X, “We are determined for the rapid development of Jharkhand. Today at around 10 am, I will have the privilege of flagging off six ‘Vande Bharat’ trains at Tatanagar, as well as laying the foundation stone and inaugurating many more projects. Apart from this, I will also be a part of the program related to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin.”

झारखंड के तेज विकास के लिए हम कृतसंकल्प हैं। आज सुबह करीब 10 बजे टाटानगर में छह ‘वंदे भारत’ को हरी झंडी दिखाने के साथ साथ कई और परियोजनाओं का शिलान्यास और उद्घाटन का सौभाग्य मिलेगा । इसके अलावा पीएम आवास योजना-ग्रामीण के लाभार्थियों से जुड़े कार्यक्रम का भी हिस्सा बनूंगा।…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 15, 2024

The Vande Bharat trains will operate between Berhampur-Tata, Rourkela-Howrah, Deoghar-Banaras, Howrah-Gaya and Howrah-Bhagalpur.

The PM will then participate in a public meeting organised by the BJP at Gopal Maidan in Jamshedpur.

The Prime Minister will also hold a road show there.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Jharkhand on September 15. The Centre has approved homes for 1,13,400 people living in temporary shelters under the PM Awas Yojana. The Union government has already sent its share of funds to the state government. The Prime Minister will release the first instalment to construct their homes.”

Tight security arrangements have been made for the PM’s Jharkhand visit. PM Modi will stay in Jharkhand for about six hours. More than 3,000 police officers and jawans have been deployed for PM Modi’s security.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw arrived a day earlier on Saturday to take stock of the preparations for PM Modi’s visit.

It is widely anticipated that the Prime Minster’s visit will energise BJP’s election campaign in Jharkhand.

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

Dhanbad:

Calling Congress “scammers,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a scathing attack on the grand old party in Dhanbad and said that Congress and its allies are the “biggest enemies of development.”

“Congress and its alliance parties are the biggest enemies of development … The foundation stone of the electricity power plant of North Karanpura was laid by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the end of the previous century… After that, the scammer government of Congress came into power and this project was shut down… In 2014, I gave a guarantee of reviving this project. Today, a number . of houses are lightened because of this power plant,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister further said that for the development of Jharkhand, better law and order and an honest government is important.

Calling the JMM-Congress government dynastic and corrupt, Modi said “extortion” has increased under the present regime, and they have created “mountains of unnamed properties.”

“But the dynastic, corrupt, and appeasing government of JMM-Congress has deteriorated the situation… In Jharkhand, extortion has increased. Because of appeasement, trespassing has increased. JMM-Congress leaders are busy filling their safe vaults. They have created mountains of unnamed properties,” PM Modi lashed out at JMM.

Indirectly referring to Congress Rajya Sabha member Dhiraj Sahu and recent ED action against former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, PM Modi said that we had seen heaps of coal, but heaps of cash were seen for the first time.

“This is your money… Whatever is looted, has to be returned, this is Modi’s guarantee. When I take action against such people, they run away because they are aware of their deeds,” he added.

The Congress MP has been in the news since December last year after the Income Tax department seized Rs 351.8 crore in cash during raids on the premises linked to Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd, promoted by his family.

JMM leader and former CM Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam case.

PM Modi further said that JMM and Congress have only considered Adivasis (tribal communities) as their vote bank.

“They will never let the talented Adivasis come forward. These dynasts only think of their own family… Modi is doing everything for your future… You are my family and the future of your children is my guarantee,” he added.

Earlier, PM Modi unveiled development projects worth more than Rs 35,700 crore, an initiative focused on the fertiliser, rail, power, and coal sectors in Jharkhand.

The Prime Minister is on a two-day visit to Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Bihar on March 1 and 2.

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