Cong and its allies prioritising votes by leveraging caste census issue: Nadda
Ahmedabad, Jan 23 (PTI) BJP chief JP Nadda on Tuesday alleged that Congress and its allies in the INDIA bloc are interested only in garnering votes in the name of caste census and are not bothered about the welfare of various sections.
He was addressing BJP workers and leaders after inaugurating the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha Constituency office in Thaltej area of Ahmedabad.
Nadda also virtually inaugurated similar offices for the rest 25 LS constituencies in Gujarat from the stage.
"The Congress and INDI Alliance (INDIA) parties are talking about a caste census. They are not concerned about the welfare of castes, but are interested only in securing votes in the name of caste census," the BJP president alleged.
While Opposition parties pursued the politics of the vote bank, Prime Minister Narendra Modi united the countrymen by giving the concept of 'GYAN' (Garib, Yuva, Annadata and Nari Shakti), said Nadda.
"Modiji said Garib, Yuva, Annadata and Nari Shakti are the only four castes in India. We will work for them. While the INDI Alliance was dividing the country in the name of castes and religion, Modiji united the country by the concept of GYAN," he said, adding that these four categories include everyone, irrespective of caste or religion.
Nadda claimed about 50 crore people are now covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme wherein beneficiaries get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh annually based on their income and "not on the basis of caste".
"PM Modi changed the definition and culture of politics in India by introducing the politics of accountability and credibility wherein votes are sought only on the basis of performance," he said.
Nadda exuded confidence that the BJP will retain power by winning a record number of seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and that Modi will become prime minister for a third term.
Notably, the BJP has been winning all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the home state of PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, since 2014.
Nadda said the BJP will score a hat-trick of this performance in Gujarat in the upcoming elections.
"Today, India has become the fifth largest economy under Modiji. When you will once again elect Modiji as our PM, India will become the third largest economy by 2028," the BJP chief said.
Referring to pran pratishtha of Lord Ram's idol at Ayodhya temple, Nadda said some Congress leaders have started saying that they also worship Lord Ram. He wondered why these leaders kept mum in the past.
"I want to ask them why you didn't say this earlier. The Congress accuses the BJP of capitalising on this issue. I told them that it was BJP workers who had vowed to sacrifice everything for this cause when Congress tried to create hurdles in the construction of the Ram temple.
"We are not capitalizing this. We are feeling fortunate that a dream has come true for which our ancestors fought for 500 years," said Nadda. PTI
