Kanpur train accident was a cross-border conspiracy: Modi
Buoyed by the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the local body elections in Maharashtra and some other states after demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he was committed to root out corruption.
“Odisha, where there is so much poverty, starvation, unemployment and where the BJP did not even have a foothold to place its flag, people have given so much support that everyone is taken aback. Even the poor of Odisha have come together with the BJP,” Mr. Modi said at an election meeting in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.
“Yesterday, Maharashtra gave its verdict and the Congress has been wiped off. Be it civic body polls in Odisha, Maharashtra, Chandigarh or panchayat polls in Gujarat, in three months wherever there were polls, whether BJP had any presence or not, people used their third eye and ensured its victory. This means that my responsibility has increased,” he said.
BJP scored an emphatic win in the Maharashtra civic polls, emerging as the largest party in eight of the 10 municipal corporations, while finishing a close second to the Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Addressing the election meeting in the region close to Indo-Nepal border, Mr. Modi referred to the recent train tragedy in Kanpur and said findings showed it was a conspiracy and the conspirators carried it out sitting across the border.
“The Kanpur rail accident in which hundreds were killed was a conspiracy and conspirators carried it out sitting across the border. Gonda is adjoining Nepal. If the cross-border foes want to carry out their work, is it not necessary that more vigil is maintained in Gonda?” Mr. Modi posed.
“Gonda needs to elect only those who are full of patriotism, only then we can do anything good for Gonda,” he said.
“There should not be any mistake in these elections. Be it the SP or the BSP, not a single seat should go to them. 100% seats should be won by the BJP,” he asserted.
Reaffirming his commitment to stamp out corruption, Mr. Modi said, “Since I took stern steps against corruption and banned notes, big forces are out to mislead the country. But, the poorest of the poor can detect the truth.”
He took the opportunity to slam his bitter political foes Mulayam Singh Yadav of the SP and Mayawati of the BSP, saying his note ban decision forced them to come on the same page.
Referring to some problems which he said were unique to this region, Mr. Modi claimed tenders were floated to encourage adoption of wrong practices in examinations, like mass copying.
“In Gonda, even theft is carried out as a trade. Tenders are floated for allotting examination centres. This is not good for anyone and this should be stopped. This auction of examination centres should be stopped,” he said.
“Akhilesh-ji your family has moved forward. You studied in Australia and your children are also studying in schools having huge fees. But what will happen to the children of Gonda? Crime attached with education will spoil the coming generations,” he said.
Referring to the “PM Fasal Bima Yojna” introduced for the benefit of people, Mr. Modi said though BJP-ruled states like Chhattisgarh and Haryana have made 50% achievement, only 14% farmers got it in UP. “Why is Akhilesh-ji so angry with farmers? Samajwad mein kisan dikhayi nahi detey (Do farmers have any place in socialism)?”
The Prime Minister also attacked the opponents for seeking evidence for surgical strikes and politicising the issue of ‘one rank, one pension’ for ex-servicemen, saying it was like humiliating army personnel.
“They (previous UPA government) had made a provision of ₹500 crore while ₹12,000 crore were required and army personnel helped us by agreeing to payments in instalments for implementing OROP,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said the first decision by a BJP government will be loan waiver of farmers.