The BJP blew the poll bugle for the Lok Sabha polls at a government-sponsored mass convention of Prime Minister’s Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries and distribution of LPG connections to beneficiaries under E-PMUY-2 (Extended Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana 2) held at B C Road in Bantwal on Friday.
The dignitaries at the convention, including Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas Pralhad Joshi, called upon the participants to re-elect incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The programme was organised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
Joshi said after the NDA government came to power, around six crore new LPG connections had been provided across the country. “The government aims at creating a smoke-free country. The distribution of LPG connections in India began in 1955. Till 1998, only seven crore people in the country had LPG connections. It might have increased to 14 crore during the 10-year of the UPA government.”
Lashing out at Congress rule in the country, he said, “The Congress in the last several decades of rule in the country had failed to provide LPG connections to people in the country. My father had paid for LPG connection in 1974. But our house received the connection only in 1989,” he said.
“The Congress was only engaged in looting the country’s resources. In spite of Indians having intelligence, the country could not progress under the Congress rule. However, under the leadership of Modi, from being the five most fragile countries in the world, India has become one of the five most powerful countries in the world.
On Congress seeks an explanation of ‘Acche Din’ promised by Modi, he said, “Acche Din Logon Ke Liye Hai, Congress Ke Liye Nahi (Good days are for the people and not for Congress). Following the ‘Make in India’ programme, the country now has 125 mobile manufacturing firms. The country’s ease of doing business ranking has improved and investments are pouring in,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Congress for its allegations on Rafale deal, Joshi said that the Rafale deal was initiated by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001-02. The UPA did not do anything for the purchase of fighter planes in the last 10 years. “The ‘Khota’ Gandhi family has a problem in its DNA. From Nehru, till the UPA II, the Congress was mired in one or the other scam. The Congress is unnecessarily engaged in false propaganda.”
Chikkamagaluru MLA C T Ravi said there was a need to keep away the “family politics” of the Gandhi family and re-elect Modi.
“The people of the district should also give a chance to the Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel to achieve a hat-trick victory in the forthcoming poll.”
MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said Belthangady taluk will become smoke-free in the next 10 days. In the next one month, all the poor families who have applied for LPG under Ujjwala scheme will get the connections.
Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ramesh Jigajinagi and others were present.