Modi kicks off projects in Chattisgarh, UP bliz

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a slew of development projects, flagged off a Vande Bharat train, and presided over a ceremony to honour a century-old publication house as he travelled across two states in a campaign blitzkrieg ahead of a crucial election season.

- Ritesh Mishra, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Sudhir Kumar

RAIPUR/GORAKHPUR/VARANASI: On the first day of his four-state visit, Modi also attacked the Congress, emphasised the importance of eradicating a mentality of slavery and taking pride in traditions, and extolled the benefits of the Union government’s welfare schemes.

“Under the BJP government, the beneficiary category has become an example of real social justice and real secularism,” the PM said in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi. “Ensuring self-respect for the poor is a Modi guarantee.”

Modi began his day in Chhattisgarh, where he laid the foundation stones of eight projects worth around ₹7,600 crore and later launched a fierce attack on the Congress, calling corruption the party’s primary ideology and terming Chhattisgarh a model of misrule.

“If the Congress is a guarantee for corruption, Modi is a guarantee for acting against it,” he said during a rally at Science College ground in Raipur.

The Congress has made the state its ATM, with every department engaged in corruption, the PM alleged. “Congress promised liquor ban in the state but in reality, they have done scams worth thousands of crores. The scam money went into the account of the party,” he added.

This was Modi’s first visit since 2019 to the Congress-ruled state that goes to the polls later this year. “The next 25 years will be crucial for the development of Chhattisgarh but a big panja (a reference to the Congress party’s poll symbol, the open palm) is standing like a tall wall against it. It has resolved to snatch your rights and it will loot the state,” Modi said.