Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8 took a sharp dig at the Congress, likening it to bitter gourd whose flavour, he said, remains unchanged even when it is “fried in ghee or sweetened with sugar”.
The BJP leader attributed many of the country’s problems to the grand old party and framed the upcoming election as a battle between “stability and instability”.
Addressing his first rally in Maharashtra for the general election, Mr. Modi, who is seeking a third consecutive term in office, accused the Opposition of craving power solely to indulge in corrupt practices. “The Congress is the source of all problems in the country. Who was responsible for the partition of the country based on religion, Kashmir, or Naxalism? Who opposed Ram temple construction and questioned the existence of Lord Ram with a battery of advocates? Who declined the Ram temple invite?” the 73-year-old asked at an impressive gathering at Chandrapur, known as the ‘City of Black Gold’. The city houses the country’s largest power station with a capacity of 2,340 MW, which accounts for 25% of the State’s power needs.
It was the only Lok Sabha seat won by the Congress in the last general election in 2019 and this time, senior BJP leader and State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar is the ruling Mahayuti alliance candidate. The Congress has fielded the late Suresh Dhanorkar’s widow Prathiba Dhanorkar. Mr. Modi also campaigned for Gadchiroli’s incumbent MP and the party candidate Ashok Nete and said, “Your vote to Mr. Mungantiwar and Mr. Nete will strengthen Modi. Modi hails from a poor family and rose to his current position without a family legacy.”
He also accused the Congress of being soft on terrorism for the sake of vote-bank politics and said even “its recently released manifesto” had the imprint of the pro-Partition Muslim League. “The 138-year-old party has lost people’s support due to its deeds,” Mr. Modi added, highlighting his government’s focus on the welfare of the underprivileged over the past decade.
He stated that the BJP-led NDA government worked for development while the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seeks power only to indulge in corruption. “The Congress has been out of power for 10 years and we have been able to resolve all problems faced by the country. Naxal menace has come down drastically, especially in the neighbouring Gadchiroli district. They are once again seeking power only to eat the malai [cream],” he claimed.
Quoting a Marathi adage on the taste of bitter gourd not changing even when cooked with sugar and ghee, Mr. Modi said: “The Congress is like bitter karela [bitter gourd]. Even if sugar is added or it is fried in ghee, its taste will never change.”
Further, he said that wood sourced from Chandrapur was utilised in the construction of both the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the new Parliament building in Delhi. Lastly, the BJP leader asked the gathering to visit every household in their locality and convey his personal greetings to them.
Mr. Modi also said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his Shiv Sena are taking the late Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology forward with vigour.
