Shah flays Cong for turning Nelson’s eye to tribal folk

In a no-holds-barred offensive against the Congress within election-bound Madhya Pradesh, Union Home Affairs and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that for decades the party did not elevate a single tribal person as President but Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured the entire adivasi community by ensuring that Mrs Droupadi Murmu adorned that exalted position.

Addressing the Kol Tribal Mahakumbh in this district headquarters on the occasion of Mata Shabri Jayanti, the visiting leader averred, “Our resolve is to ensure a respectable existence for even the poorest of the poor through the glorious medium of Antyodaya. In 2014, Mr Modi – in his maiden address as Prime Minister – averred that his dispensation is for the welfare of tribes, dalits, the indigent and the backward; that was a global message and he proved his own words through ground-level implementation. He saved the entire country during the pandemic; 80 crore needy individuals benefitted through free supply of grain. In Congress dispensations, there were no toilets within the abodes of the impoverished but Mr Modi’s tenure witnessed construction of 10 crore toilets besides improvement in power supply, cooking gas connections and free medical treatment. The tribal budget has been enhanced from Rs 24,000 cr to Rs 89,000 cr. The number of Eklavya Model schools increased significantly.”

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During his speech that lasted 13 minutes and commenced with the slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’, Mr Shah bowed to the supreme sacrifice of Rani Durgavati and Rani Kamlapati while pointing out that the Prime Minister earmarked Rs 200 cr for ten monuments including one dedicated to the 1831 Kol uprising to throw off the foreign yoke.

“I do not wish to speak at length. Mata Shabri was a tribal mother who became an inspiration down the ages through her unalloyed devotion to Lord Ram. This is also Ma Sharda’s sacred land and it is my third visit here. Each time, I returned with renewed energy and consciousness. All of you are indeed fortunate as foundation stones have been laid or dedication to the people took place vis-à-vis 70 projects worth crores on this very day. I felicitate the state’s BJP dispensation. When I visited Jabalpur, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made no less than 14 announcements. I was apprehensive that the tribal brethren would blame me in the event of non-fulfilment but my trepidation proved baseless,” he reminisced.

Taking a dig at the erstwhile Kamal Nath regime, the seasoned politician said, “During that interregnum, the Congress government placed every scheme initiated by Mr Chouhan on the backburner but now the Modi-Shivraj double engine is resolved to usher in happiness.”