Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asserted that the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross the 400-seat mark in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and said the next five years will see rapid development in the country.

Weeks ahead of the crucial polls, the PM repeated his slogan of ‘Abki baar NDA sarkar 400 paar’ and said the country has decided to give the BJP-led alliance a bigger majority that what it secured in the 2019 polls.

Modi was addressing a public rally at Bhari in Yavatmal district in Vidarbha in eastern Maharashtra after inaugurating development projects worth thousands of crores, flagging off trains and disbursing funds under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to eligible farmers.

The PM maintained that works done by his government in the last ten years have laid a strong foundation of the country for the next 25 years and his mission was to change the lives of people.

He said the campaign to empower the poor, farmers, youths and women will gather further momentum in the coming five years.

Modi said when he visited Yavatmal ahead of 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the people of the district blessed him with lots of love and this helped the NDA win both the polls with a thumping majority.

The top BJP leader said the country has decided to give the NDA, a bloc of more than two dozen political parties, over 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections (out of the total 543).

"We (BJP-led NDA) will cross the 400-seat tally this time," Modi said, adding "The coming five years will see rapid development." He attacked former Union minister Sharad Pawar and said when he handled the agriculture portfolio (in the Congress-led UPA government from 2004 to 2014), financial packages would be announced for farmers, including those from the Vidarbha region, but the money would be siphoned off before it could reach the beneficiaries.

The poor, Adivasis and farmers used to not get anything from these packages, he said.

He said today with just one click Rs 21,000 crore was transferred directly to the bank accounts of more than nine crore beneficiary farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and added, "This is what is Modi's guarantee".

Modi noted that during Congress governments when Re 1 used to get released from the central government towards welfare schemes, only 15 paise reached the intended beneficiary (a reference to a statement made by then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s).

"If a Congress government would have been in power today, then Rs 18,000 crore out of Rs 21,000 crore (disbursed under Kisan Samman Nidhi at Yavatmal) would have been looted midway. But under the BJP government, the poor are getting their full dues," he asserted.

Modi said his government is determined to serve people and stressed on the importance of water and raised the issue of its shortage in Vidarbha.

The PM said before 2014 there was chaos in villages in the country over the issue of drinking water and irrigation facilities and added that even today, the opposition INDIA alliance was not bothered about this vital issue.

He said prior to 2014, the year when the BJP came to power at the Centre, of the 100 families, only 15 had access to piped water in the country.

However, after the launch of the 'Har Ghar Jal' scheme in 2019 by the central government, 75 out of 100 rural families get drinking water through pipes, he said.

Modi attacked the Congress and accused it of stalling 100 big irrigation projects in the country during its decades-long rule.

He said his government has completed more than 60 such irrigation projects and others are also nearing completion.

Maharashtra had 26 big irrigation projects where no work was taking place, but after the BJP came to power, 12 of these have been completed and work is going on the remaining ones at a rapid pace, Modi stated.

Under the Congress rule, Adivasi communities were ignored and not provided with any facilities. But the BJP-led government took care of most backward groups among tribals, he asserted.

Modi said it was his government which launched a Rs 23,000-crore welfare scheme for them. This scheme will give tribal communities in Maharashtra a better life.

During the visit, Modi unveiled a statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, a key BJP ideologue, in Yavatmal city.

The PM disbursed second and third instalments of 'Namo Shetkari MahaSanman Nidhi' of about Rs 3,800 crore, benefiting nearly 88 lakh farmers across Maharashtra. The scheme provides an additional Rs 6,000 a year to the beneficiaries of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.

On the occasion, Modi disbursed Rs 825 crore to 5.5 lakh women self-help groups (SHGs) across Maharashtra and initiated distribution of one crore Ayushman (health) cards.

He launched the 'Modi Awaas Gharkul Yojana' for the OBC category beneficiaries in Maharashtra. The scheme envisages construction of 10 lakh houses from FY 2023-24 to FY 2025-26.

The PM dedicated to the nation multiple irrigation projects benefiting Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and inaugurated multiple rail projects worth more than Rs 1,300 crore in Maharashtra. He virtually flagged off two train services during the programme.

Modi also dedicated to the nation several projects aimed at strengthening the road sector in Maharashtra.

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