Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a 6-kilometre long roadshow in an open jeep to inaugurate the Eastern Peripheral Expressway and addressed a rally in Baghpat on Sunday.
Both locations fall next door to the Lok Sabha constituency of Kairana that goes to bypolls today.
The Election Commission had earlier given its nod to the rally despite objections raised by the Congress and other opposition parties that the PM's rally just a day before the bypolls would give unfair advantage to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to the model code of conduct, no poll campaign can take place 48 hours before a constituency goes to the polls. However, the EC gave permission on technical grounds as the venue of the Baghpat rally and roadshow fell outside the limits of Kairana.
After suffering the jolt of losing chief minister's constituency Gorakhpur and deputy chief minister's constituency Phulpur in the recent bypolls, the BJP has taken the Kairana bypolls a prestige issue that was won by its candidate Hukum Singh by a record margin in 2014.
PM Modi used the rally to address farmers of the sugarcane bowl who are facing tough situation due to low rates and delayed payments.
He said the government has raised minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane by about 11 per cent, increased blending of sugarcane extracted ethanol in petrol to 10 per cent and decided to provide Rs 5.50 per quintal to farmers directly to clear a part of their dues stuck with sugar mills.
The PM launched a frontal attack on the Congress for being a "dynasty driven" party and spreading "lies and rumours" on several issues such as dilution of anti-Dalit atrocities law, agrarian crisis and the economy. "On that side are the people for whom their family is the country. For me, my country is my family...After losing elections, they are rattled. I had not thought that in opposing Modi, they would start opposing the country," he said.
PM Modi alleged that the opposition party created a crisis of confidence when it pointed fingers at the Supreme Court, raised doubts on the Election Commission and EVMs, eyed with suspicion on the Reserve Bank of India and its policies and questioned international agencies praising India.
"Truth is that Congress and its allies either create obstacles or make fun of any work done for upliftment of poor, Dalits and tribals. To them, the country's development too is a joke. To them, Swachh Bharat, free cooking gas (LPG) connection to poor women, building toilets and opening bank accounts for poor are a joke," he said.
Addressing Dalits who are sizeable in numbers in the poll bound region, Modi chose to attack the opposition for having selfish motives and shedding crocodile tears over Dalit issues.
"For their own narrow political gains, they are openly lying on Supreme Court ruling," he said referring to an order of the apex court on the verdict on SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The PM said his government has not just taken measures to create opportunities for Dalits, it has also provided security and justice to them in last four years. Addressing OBC communities, the PM said his government has decided to constitute a commission for sub-categorisation of backward class so as to give the benefit of reservation in education and government jobs to the most backward classes within the OBC list.
2 E-WAYS: FASTER TRAVEL, CLEANER AIR
DELHI-MEERUT EXPRESSWAY
- Rs 7,566-cr expressway is expected to reduce travel time to 40 min from two-and-half hours
- The total length of the project is 82 km, 27.74 km of which will have 14 lanes and the rest 6 lanes
- It will have dedicated bicycle tracks on the 28-km stretch between Delhi and Dasna
EASTERN PERIPHERAL EXPRESSWAY
- Rs 11,000-cr cost of project
- 135 km length of the E-way
- 500 days record time in which project was completed
- 6-lane expressway is expected to reduce pollution by 27%
- It is India’s first highway to be lit by solar power
- It has 4 major & 46 minor bridges, 3 flyovers, 7 inter-changes, 221 underpasses and 8 ROBs
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 "Prime Minister Narendra Modi")
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