No scrapping of reservation, lies being spread: Modi

At a rally in Coimbatore, the PM underlined that unity, harmony and peace were essential for the country to progress

India needs Ekta, Shanti and Sadbhavana (unity, peace and harmony) to move ahead and they will take India to new heights of progress, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Coimbatore.

He kickstarted the election campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu by listing the initiatives his government has taken for the welfare and growth of the poor, the scheduled castes, small entrepreneurs and farmers in the last 18 months.

In his near 70-minute speech, he also came heavily on the opposition stating that they are stalling Rajya Sabha to express anger against him and in turn are stalling pro-poor, pro-labour bills as well.

"We are able to work in Lok Sabha but in Rajya Sabha they are showing so much anger as if they want to teach a lesson to Modi," said Modi. He noted that outdated laws have to be scrapped and the Government had identified around 1,400 laws for the same.

"We want the labourers to get more bonus. Again, this was passed in the Lok Sabha but this is stuck in the Rajya Sabha," said Modi adding that matters concerning the poor are pending in the Rajya Sabha and those laws creating obstacles for poor have to be abolished.

"Some have always played politics in name of poor but are unable to accept that person from backward sections of society is PM. Some people are unable to digest how son of a tea seller has become PM. Verdict of the people hasn't been accepted even now," said the Prime Minister.

In the last two years there hasn't been a scandal and opposition are wondering what to do about Modi and that is why they are blowing up things, he said.

"For first time, the Centre made facilities so that farmers receive money directly into their accounts through Jan Dhan Yojana. What farmers did not get for so many years, they have got in 16 months," said the Prime Minister.

All the global credit agencies, World Bank, IMF and various studies have said India will be the fastest growing economy going forward, he added.

Modi said Make in India is a great initiative for foreign investments and huge job opportunities and FDI has grown by 39 per cent.

"We want to make job-creators, not job-seekers and want to make India a start-up capital," said Modi adding that around Rs 95,000 crore has been disbursed through Mudra Yojana for the needy entrepreneurs

Prime Minister assured that the Dalits reservation in jobs and education will not be scrapped. He said opposition is spreading lies and is preventing the government from functioning.

He said many state Chief Ministers wrote angry letters to him demanding supply of urea for the farmers.

“Now no Chief Minister is writing to me asking for urea. For the first time after the country attained independence urea is not sold in the black market,” Modi said.

In order to encourage farmers to grow pulses and cereals, minimum suppot price (MSP) for them was announced by the government, he said.