Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has brought the Left Wing Extremism in the country under control in the last nine years except for a few areas in Chhattisgarh's Bastar.
Speaking at a rally at Pandit Ravishankar Shukla stadium in Durg city of Chhattisgarh, where Assembly elections are due by year-end, he also said that the Congress government in the state had failed on all fronts and its countdown has started.
Sounding a poll bugle, the senior BJP leader asked people to vote out the Bhupesh Baghel government, and also bring prime minister Narendra Modi to power once again in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Scams of "Rs 12 lakh crore" took place under the Manmohan Singh government while the Modi government has been functioning in a transparent manner and the opposition cannot level even a single allegation of corruption against it, Shah said.
"The Left Wing Extremism was brought under control in the entire country, barring a few areas in Bastar region in Chhattisgarh, during this period (nine years of Modi government)," Shah said.
The Congress government in the state has indulged in corruption in multiple sectors and chief minister Baghel should be ashamed of "abandoning" the people of the state, he said.
The Baghel government is facing allegations of a Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam, Rs 500 crore coal transportation scam, Rs 1,300 crore gau-than (cattle shelter land) scam, Public Service Commission scam, District Mineral Foundation scam and many more scams, the Union minister claimed.
"Do you want to re-elect this corruption-ridden government ?" he asked the gathering.
It was a "government that broke promises", Shah said, accusing the Congress of failing to keep promises of liquor ban, loan waiver for self-help groups and unemployment allowance.
Women involved in the 'ready-to-eat' scheme lost their jobs, senior citizens are not getting old age pension and the payments of tendu leaf collectors are pending, he claimed, adding that the state was facing a debt burden of more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
“Under the Congress government, several people died due to lack of health facilities in tribal areas, more than 13,000 infants died, 1,000 farmers committed suicide, more than 5,000 rape cases were reported in such a small state. Baghel should be ashamed of it.... you will be unseated in the next elections,” Shah said.
He also slammed the state government for patting itself on the back on paddy procurement, pointing out that 90 percent of the money for paddy procurement comes from the Centre.
During the ten years of the UPA rule (2004-2014), the Centre gave Rs 74,000 crore to Chhattisgarh, whereas the Modi government in nine years sanctioned Rs 3.09 lakh crore for the state, the Union minister said.
Shah also said that during a visit to any state, he asks people who will be the PM, Modi or Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, after the 2024 general elections, and was asking the same question at this rally. The crowd replied they will choose Modi.
State BJP chief Arun Sao and other senior leaders were present at the rally.
Meanwhile, Piyush Babele, a Congress functionary in Madhya Pradesh, tweeted a video purportedly showing empty chairs at Shah's rally in Durg, and sought to link it to his absence at the subsequent public meeting at Balaghat.
Shah, who was to attend a rally at Balaghat in eastern MP, had to head back to Raipur as his helicopter could not land there because of bad weather, the MP government said.
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