Addressing a poll rally in Jharkhand's Daltonganj, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the BJP government will continue to protect the state's ''Jal, Jungle, Zameen'' (water, forest and land).
"(Previous) governments were made through the back door. There were alliances of self-seekers who were driven by the lust for power (satta bhog) and exploited the resources of the state.
They had their eyes on the riches found beneath the surface of the earth and cared little for those living on the earth. How would it then have been possible to give electricity, roads and water to people? Set up industries?" the Prime Minister said.
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Attacking the opposition alliance of Congress-JMM-RJD, Modi said that the previous governments were a bunch of "self-seekers" who were driven by the "lust for power" and exploited the mineral-rich state's resources while neglecting its people.
In his first speech in the state ahead of state polls, the PM Modi raked up the politically sensitive Ayodhya Verdict and the Kashmir issue. He attacked the previous Congress governments at the Centre for procrastinating resolution of the Kashmir issue and the Ayodhya dispute for the sake of "votes".
"The Congress follows the policy of procrastination so that it can keep collecting votes. The party kept the issue of article 370 pending. We had promised a resolution and we fulfilled it," he said.
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"The Ram Janmabhoomi dispute in Ayodhya had lingered for decades. Congress could have resolved it if it so wanted, but it chose to hurt the society, the country to protect its vote bank. See, today the dispute stands resolved," he added.
On Naxalism, Modi said that the menace only flourished under the non-BJP governments due to political instability, he said.
The Das government, he said, worked day and night to end corruption and set up institutional mechanisms for greater transparency in governance. He said the BJP government worked hard to end naxalism and crime.
Urging people to vote the BJP to power for a second successive term, the prime minister said the 'double-engine' growth of Jharkhand became possible because the party was in power both at the Centre and in the state.
"We sent funds and brought pressure on the previous BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh for speeding up the construction of houses for the poor but to no avail. But since the advent of the Yogi Adityanath government, UP is at the top in building dwellings for the poor," he said.
"The benefits of double-engine growth are many. There is continuity of development....no political games are played," he said.
The prime minister said states like West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where BJP's rivals were in power, were not being able to reap the fruits of central government schemes because of impediments created by the state governments.
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He also recalled how the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had created Jharkhand and set up a ministry to exclusively handle the welfare of tribals.
"For 50 years, there was no ministry of tribal affairs to look after the interest of adivasis. There was an OBC commission but it lacked constitutional status. We ensured that constitutional status was bestowed on the Commission," Modi said as he sought to reach out to the vast tribal electorate of Jharkhand.
