Congress did not feel insulted with MP's 'Bimaru' tag: Modi

Accusing the Congress of not caring for Madhya Pradesh's future and not feeling insulted over the state's earlier "BIMARU" tag, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said BJP has made the state a major participant in the development process of the country.

Addressing a rally in poll-bound state after inaugurating the Mohanpura irrigation project, Modi remembered Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary and accused the Congress of glorifying one family while ignoring contribution of other nation builders.

Claiming that Madhya Pradesh's condition had been such that an "insulting word" was associated with it, he said: "That word was BIMARU. We never liked it. Madhya Pradesh was counted among the sick states.

"The Congress, which ruled Madhya Pradesh for long time, did not see or feel the insult. They treated the common people as their subjects and got them to sing their praises. They did not care for Madhya Pradesh's future."

"BJP has taken out the state from that situation and made it country's major partner in development," he added.

The acronym BIMARU was coined in the 1980s for the economic condition of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Without naming the Congress, Modi attacked it for spreading lies about his government's performance. "Those who are spreading lies do not know the ground reality," he said.

The Prime Minister said that his government is making sure that every village in the districts should have a gas connection, every household has electricity connection, everybody has bank accounts, everybody gets a shield of security insurance and every pregnant woman and child is immunised.

He said this work could have been done by the Congress or previsions governments also.

"It was unfortunate on the part of this country that Congress which has ruled this country for so many years never had trust in you and your hard work.

"Your presence in such a large number shows you have faith in the government and its policies," he added.

He said under leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Madhya Pradesh has written a "new saga of development". "The release of irrigation project in Mohanpura today and the work on the three water supply schemes is a part of this link. This project is not only Rajgarh but also one of the major projects of Madhya Pradesh."

He said this project is not only an example of rapid growth but also the way in which government works.

"This project has been completed within approximately four years. In this, special attention has been given to micro-irrigation by prioritising that water reaches to farms by laying pipelines," he said.

He said four crore poor women have got free LPG cylinders in the country under Ujjwala Yojana and in Madhya Pradesh, about 40 lakh women have been given free gas connections so far.

Taking a dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of government over job creation, Modi said: "This government respects labour. Some people's attitude towards labour may not be positive, they make fun of employment, but the efforts of this government are in front of everyone today. More than 85 lakh people of Madhya Pradesh have taken benefit of Mudra Yojna."

He also said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and government have followed the vision of Mookerjee, which is "visible in several programmes of the BJP governments at the Centre and in states".

"Whether it is a Skill India Mission for youth or Start Up scheme, Mudra Yojna for self-employment or Make in India, you will get a glimpse of Dr. Mookerjee's ideas," he said.

--IANS

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