Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting ahead of the Haryana assembly elections, in Kurukshetra on September 14, 2024 | Photo Credit: ANI Stepping up the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaigning in Haryana, where the Assembly election is scheduled for October 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress party, terming it “the most dishonest and deceitful party in the country”.“The Congress has never been bothered about the problems of the people. There is no other party in the country that is more dishonest and deceitful than the Congress. The Congress talks big for farmers, shows them big dreams. It’s nothing but a lie. These people make so much noise about minimum support price (MSP), whereas it is in Haryana, where the BJP is in power, that 24 crops are purchased at MSP. I challenge, if Congress has the guts, why doesn’t it implement its farmer schemes in Karnataka and Telangana [where the Congress is in power]? How many crops do they buy at MSP in Karnataka and Telangana? All development work in Karnataka and Telangana has come to a standstill. Congress is a dishonest party,” Mr. Modi said, addressing a public rally in Haryana’s Kurukshetra.“In Karnataka, during the present regime of the Congress, around 1,200 farmers died by suicide. The Congress government did not help the drought-affected farmers. The Congress’s politics is limited to extending false promises and spreading anarchy,” he added.Mr. Modi also took a jibe at Congress-ruled States. “The Congress came to power in Himachal Pradesh two years ago by making false promises. Government employees are resorting to strike to get their salaries. Youth are not being recruited. The situation has come down to shutting schools and colleges. The Congress had promised to give ₹1,500 to women but thousands of women are still waiting. Besides, several public welfare schemes started by the previous BJP government have now been stopped,” the PM alleged.The Congress had also betrayed the soldiers of the country, Mr. Modi said. “For years, the Congress made promises about One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for Army men but never implemented it. The Congress has a history of betraying our Army and soldiers. We came to power and implemented the OROP,” he said, seeking votes for the BJP’s “double engine” governance.Mr. Modi said the Congress was supporting the restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. “The Congress wants to bring back the era when, till a few years ago, stones were pelted and terrorists fired bullets on our brave soldiers of Haryana. Congress wants to bring back that period of terror and separatism,” the PM said.“The Congress is a living example of appeasement. Today, the situation has become such that under the rule of the Congress in Karnataka, even Ganapati-ji is being put behind bars. The whole country is celebrating Ganesh Utsav, while the Congress created obstacles in the worship of the Vighnaharta (remover of obstacles),” Mr. Modi said, accusing the Congress of favouring politics of “corruption and appeasement”.“Mahatma Gandhi always favoured the truth, and after Independence, for few years, the Congress followed and remained under Mahatma Gandhi’s values, but today’s Congress is a new form of ‘urban Naxal’. The Congress has no shame in lying now. The Congress is continuously attacking the unity of the country. To defame the BJP, they are not ashamed of defaming India,” Mr. Modi said.Mr. Modi accused the Congress of being the biggest opponent of “Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and tribals”. “Congress has always opposed reservation…But Congress should listen carefully, as long as Modi is here, I will not allow even an iota of the reservation given by Babasaheb Ambedkar to be looted or taken away… this is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.Mr. Modi also made a veiled attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), citing Punjab’s poor finances. “They have only one policy — empty the public treasury to win the elections. They are the most corrupt,” he said. Published – September 14, 2024 09:53 pm IST