Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday stepped up his attack on the opposition, accusing it of playing with the emotions of the poor and dividing the country on the lines of caste. His stinging remarks came hours after the Bihar government released its caste census report, just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
“Enemies of development got six decades that means 60 years (to rule at Centre). They failed to deliver the goods. But in nine years (of BJP rule at Centre) enormous development has taken place… and the world is singing the praises of India. When so much work can take place in just nine years, why the same could not take place in all those years?” Modi asked, without naming the Congress.
Modi’s criticism was also aimed at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who, while addressing rallies in the poll-bound states, had vowed to conduct a caste census if the party was voted to power. Rahul reiterated his promise in a post on X on Monday soon after the Nitish Kumar-led government released the report.
The prime minister, addressing a function at Gwalior in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh alleged that the anti-BJP parties do not like the fact that the country is nowadays praised at global forums.
“They (opposition parties) played with the emotions of the poor and divided society on caste lines. They are committing this sin even now,” he said, though he did not make any reference to the Bihar government’s case survey report.
Modi also accused the opposition parties of being “anti-development”. “They have only one thing in their mind — hatred against the nation and its policies. In hate they forget the country’s achievements,” he said.
As per the Bihar caste survey report, 36.01per cent of the state’s population is in the extremely backward classes (EBC) and 27.12 per cent in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
While the state has a population of 13 crores, only 15.52 per cent belong to the general category. The Scheduled Caste comprises 19.65 per cent and the Scheduled Tribe accounts for 1.68 per cent of the total population.
