File photo of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
Launching a blistering attack on the Congress on corruption and accusing it of making false promises in its manifesto, Narendra Modi today reached out to tribals recalling that it was a BJP-led government that had created Jharkhand and set up a dedicated ministry for them.
Addresssing a rally in the mining state, the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate alleged that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had "mocked" at the demand for creation of separate state of Jharkhand.
He also hit out at the UPA government over alleged corruption in giving clearances for power projects and revived his "Jayanthi tax" barb to target former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan.
"Yesterday Congress party released its manifesto. For any political party, its manifesto should be like the Gita, the Quran and the Bible and not some document to throw dust in people's eyes. Congress party made its manifesto a political tool and did not maintain its sanctity," Mr Modi said.
Interacting with the crowd, he asked them whether they will trust the words of Congress or its "false promises" made in the manifesto.
"They had made promises even in 2004 and 2009. They had said that they will bring down prices and will provide a job to one member of each family. Whether they gave you the jobs?" he asked.
Mr Modi also chose the occasion to urge the Election Commission to frame some rule under which a party, which comes to power, should be asked after remaining in power about how many of the promises made in its manifesto were fulfilled.
Addressing a pre-dominantly tribal gathering, Mr Modi accused Congress of ignoring the welfare of tribals.
"These Congress people had no idea that our tribal brothers and sisters also live in the country. A number of Congress governments came to power in last sixty years. Nehru became Prime Minister. But they never thought about creating a ministry for the welfare of tribals," he said.
He said that it was NDA's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who created a dedicated ministry for tribals and earmarked a separate budget for them.
"A number of Congress governments came but they did not give power in your hands....Vajpayeeji gave us Jharkhand, he gave the right to us to decide how should it progress....
Nehruji had mocked the demand for Jharkhand.
"Now that Jharkhand is in place, Congress is adopting all kinds of tactics (hathkanda) to capture power. They stand behind someone at one time and some other at the other time," the BJP leader said, alluding to the different allies Congress had chosen in the state in the last few years.
Currently, Congress is partnering an alliance government with JMM and RJD in the state. Earlier, it had tied up with Babulal Marandi's JVM (P) and had also supported independent Madhu Koda's government.
Mr Modi also took a jibe at RJD chief Lalu Prasad, saying, "There is a leader in Bihar now, who used to say Jharkhand will be created after my death. Where is he now.
"The message is that if there is strength in the government that is sitting in Delhi and its leader is decisive, decisions take place. Jharkhand is its living example."
Mr Prasad, who was the Chief Minister of Bihar when Jharkhand was created in 2000, has forged an alliance with Congress in Bihar for 2014 Lok Sabha polls and is hitting out at Mr Modi on the issue of communalism in this election in which BJP has high hopes from the Hindi state.
Mr Modi said that had Congress been occupying the seat of power in Delhi, "perhaps Jharkhand would not have born".
Noting that despite having mines, the people are poor here, Mr Modi said, "This is because for some leaders, for some governments, mines are huge opportunities for corruption. They did not eschew even from coal theft."
Attacking the UPA government on corruption issue, he said that whenever there is any talk about mines in Delhi, "the Environment Ministry used to put obstacles. You must have heard about income tax, sales tax. There used to be a Jayanthi tax in Delhi.
"If one has to get environmental clearance, he has to pay the money. Files were not cleared without making payment. So coal extraction was not happening because money was not paid."
Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Mr Modi attacked him for his pitch to fight corruption, saying, "Nothing happens by merely making promises. Corruption is checked if intentions are clear. There should be strength in the leader."
Asserting that the country can be freed from corruption if there is clear intent, Mr Modi said that one of the reasons of his Bharat Vijay Yatra is to fight the menace.
He said that the UPA government lauded the mining policy of Gujarat as it increased the royalty of the state government and checked corruption.
"The Prime Minister of the country gave award to the corruption-free mining plan of Gujarat and asked other states to implement it. People sitting in Delhi keep making promises. They have nothing to do with ensuring results," the Gujarat Chief Minister said.
Projecting BJP as the only party that can take care of tribals, he also referred to tribal leader Karia Munda, saying that BJP put forward his name for being made Deputy Speaker in Lok Sabha.
In his speech laced with references to tribal heroes including Tana Bhagat, Mr Modi also told the tribals that the reason for their poverty and migration in search of a livelihood despite the state being mineral-rich is that the government lacks a vision and dedication to bring development.
"The tribals can give inspiration to the entire nation. The land is rich here but the people are poor. What is the reason that people have to migrate from the state in search of livelihood?
"While there are so much natural resources here, the government has no policy, programme or intent. That is why people are forced to migrate from here," he said, claiming that a turnaround was made in the agriculture scenario in Gujarat as his government provided water facilities to farmers there.