PM Narendra Modi rips into Congress, calls it 'lollipop company'

As the 2019 elections near, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday tore into the Congress calling it a 'lollipop company'.

"Be cautious of the Congress and its lies," the Prime Minister said addressing a massive public meeting at Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur.
This was PM Modi's second trip in a month to Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is putting all its might to strike gold in the crucial state which has 80 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Prime Minister said the Congress, which had promised loan waiver to lakhs of farmers in Karnataka – where the party made a "backdoor entry" to the government – only waived off loans of just 800 farmers.
"This was like handing over lollypops to farmers," he said.

The Prime Minister said the "lollypop company" had similarly "forgotten" the promises it had made to people on various occasions.
PM Modi's remarks came close on the heels of loan waivers announced by the Congress governments in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

"In the Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh, farmers are already facing the brunt. Now, they have to stand in long queues to avail urea," the PM said adding that black-marketeers have suddenly become active in the state.
The Prime Minister said under the Congress rule, loans were availed by the people who were "not even eligible for it", but farmers were forced to go to private lenders and fall into the "debt traps".

Describing himself as a people's 'chowkidar' (watchman), a term ridiculed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the Prime Minister said, "This chowkidar of yours is toiling very hard day and night to brighten your future and that of your children."
"Because of this chowkidar, some thieves are having sleepless nights. It is your faith and blessings on me that will take the thieves to their rightful place one day," he quipped.

Slamming the previous Congress government for not implementing the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission recommendation on minimum support price for crops, the Prime Minister said his government has now fixed the minimum support price of 22 crops at one and a half times the cost of production.
Referring to Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana – brought by his government – the Prime Minister said that for the first time healthcare has been given "so much emphasis".

The Prime Minister said when a government works with "transparency", "commitment" and "public interest", big tasks are accomplished "effectively".
In Ghazipur, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for a medical college and released a postal stamp on legendary king Suheldev.

The PM's in Ghazipur rally is being seen as an effort by the BJP to woo the Rajbhar community, which reveres Maharaja Suheldev. "Maharaja Suheldev is among those brave hearts who had struggled for the honour of Maa Bharti (Mother India)," he said.
Later in the day, the Prime Minister dedicated the International Rice Research Institute's South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) campus to the nation in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency. The centre will serve as a hub for rice research and training in South Asia. Addressing a gathering, the PM said the institute will help farmers of the region to develop varieties of paddy which grow in minimum water and have low sugar content and high nutritional value.

In Varanasi, the PM also inaugurated 15 projects worth more than Rs 180 crore.
The PM also attended the 'One District, One Product' Regional Summit at Deendayal Hastakala Sankul, where he interacted with weavers and artisans. The scheme aims at enhancing the skills of local people and increasing the reach of the indigenous trades, crafts and products from small towns and districts in the state.