Nanded:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday claimed that the Congress hates the OBCs as it cannot come to terms with having a person from the backward classes at the helm of the country.

The division between dalits, adivasis and backward classes suits the politics of the Congress but because of their unity it is losing its support base, he said, speaking at a campaign rally in Nanded for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections and the Nanded bypoll Lok Sabha.

“It suits Congress policy if Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes are divided. His game plan is to divide you into different groups and communities,” he said.

“Congress hates OBCs because it cannot digest the fact that an OBC is the Prime Minister for ten years and works by taking everyone together,” PM Modi said.

“They want to divide OBC communities into small castes and take away their power of unity. If it happens, Congress will take away reservation,” he asserted.

Efforts to divide people along caste lines and deprive them of reservation were made by leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, he claimed.

There is a tide in favor of the ‘Mahayuti’ alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, he claimed, adding that its aim is ‘Viksit Bharat’.

“So BJP and its allies are elected by people again and again. In the Lok Sabha elections, Nanded did not vote for us. I hope you will bless me now,” he said, referring to the BJP’s defeat. Pratap Chikhlikar by Vasant Chavan of Congress.

In the Haryana elections, the BJP created history by winning the highest number of seats, the Prime Minister said, adding that the people of Maharashtra were ready to repeat history.

“Wherever I have been in Maharashtra in the last two months, I have this feeling that whatever could not be done in the Lok Sabha elections will be corrected in the assembly polls,” he said.

“Today, there is only one slogan on everyone’s lips: BJP-Mahayuti ahe, tar gati ahe. Maharashtraachi pragati ahe (Only BJP-Mahayuti will ensure rapid progress of Maharashtra), he added.

The BJP and its allies won 17 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra in the general elections.

The Congress was the root cause of farmers’ problems in Marathwada, but under the leadership of the BJP and its allies, several steps have been taken to alleviate the problem of water scarcity and drought, the Prime Minister said.

The Marathwada water grid scheme was started by the previous BJP-led government, but the Maha Vikas Aghadi regime stopped it, he claimed, adding that the Mahayuti government had revived it.

“Farmers’ interests are the top priority and they have benefited due to several welfare and financial aid schemes. In the last two years, investments worth Rs 80,000 crore have flowed into Marathwada alone. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor has given a new identity to Marathwada. The coach factory, logistics park, Shakti-Peeth expressway have opened up new employment avenues,” PM Modi added.

Women empowerment was also a priority for Mahayuti and the Union government, he said, as he listed women-centric development schemes like the PM Awas Yojana and schemes for toilets, water and electricity connections and LPG.

“Prime Minister Modi is thinking big as (during his tenure) unprecedented initiatives like three million women ‘lakhpati Didis’ have been taken,” the Prime Minister said.

Congress governments have been involved in several scams but “now they have crossed all limits and broken their own record”, he said, while accusing his leaders of flaunting copies of their Constitution with blank pages during campaigning in progress from Maharashtra.

“The red book is blank, without a single word of Ambedkar’s Constitution inside. It is an example of how much I hate Ambedkar,” he said.

PM Modi also accused the Congress of wanting to implement its own Constitution instead of the one drafted by Dr. BR Ambedkar.

The first time Congress did this was during the Emergency, and now it was doing the same by distributing white copies of the Constitution, he argued.

The Congress has betrayed the Constitution by not implementing it in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said.

“Jammu and Kashmir’s constitution was different and (the state) had a separate flag. There were no rights for Dalits. In Kashmir, Congress supported two Constitutions and in Maharashtra there is talk of Ambedkar’s Constitution,” he said.

The barrier of Article 370 was broken by the BJP government, but the Congress and its allies want to revive it, Modi claimed.

“Congress loves Article 370 while we love Jammu and Kashmir. Thanks to the repeal of Article 370, terrorism was crushed, Diwali was celebrated and the national flag was hoisted at Lal Chowk,” the Prime Minister said.

Democracy was strengthened in Kashmir and Dalits got their rights for the first time, he said, adding that Pakistan and Congress did not like it.

“Congress and its allies are driving the Pakistan agenda in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Will any patriotic person forgive Congress for this sin? Will you punish the Congress in the elections,” he asked, apparently referring to the passing of the resolution seeking restoration of Article 370 in the J&K assembly.

In a veiled jab at former ally Uddhav Thackeray, he said Maharashtra is the land of patriotic people and those who compromise the nation’s interest in politics and betray the legacy of late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray should be taught a lesson.

The early election to the Nanded Lok Sabha seat was necessitated by the death of Congress MP Vasant Chavan.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and BJP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Chavan were also present at the rally.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)