BJP stopped Cong govt's scams, used that money for free ration to poor: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the Congress of indulging in corruption during its rule, and said after the BJP came to power at the Centre, its government stopped all scams and saved the money involved in it that helped in providing free ration to over 80 crore poor people.

Modi also alleged that the Congress keeps abusing him everyday, and slammed the party for having an "anti-tribal mindset" as he cited its opposition to the candidature of the country's first tribal woman President Droupadi Murmu. He was addressing a public meeting in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, where assembly elections will be held on November 17.

"When Congress was in power for 10 years (2004-2014) its government indulged in corruption, but after BJP came to power, it stopped all those scams and saved a lot of money and utilised it to provide free ration to over 80 crore poor people during the COVID-19 period," Modi said.

The free ration scheme is now extended beyond December for the next five years, he said.

The prime minister also said that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana, Rs 2.07 lakh crore were deposited into the bank accounts of farmers without any leakage and it was possible as corruption was stopped.

Accusing the Congress of using tribals as "vote bank", Modi said when the BJP proposed the candidature of the first woman tribal president of the country, the grand old party opposed it as it never bothered about their welfare. "Despite getting an invitation in advance for attending the swearing-in ceremony of the country's first Dalit Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on Monday, Congress failed to attend it. This reflects its anti-Dalit mindset," he added. Former IAS officer Heeralal Samariya was on Monday sworn in as the Chief Information Commissioner. PM Modi also said that the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh was developing the Vindhya region as a major solar power centre and cited the example of setting up of the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar power plant considered to be the biggest in Asia.