Varanasi: Reaching out to backward and dalit communities, BJP President Amit Shah on Sunday said they should ensure that the party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh for it is only Prime Minister Narendra Modi who can understand their plight as he has risen from among them.
"With your support Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of this country and BJP gained full majority in Lok Sabha elections and now again with your support, the next government in UP is going to be formed by BJP," Shah said addressing a rally where local backward caste leader from Samajwadi Party Anil Rajbhar formally joined BJP.
The BJP President invoked Modi's humble background, saying he faced poverty in his life and sold tea in Gujarat during his initial years, but has risen to occupy the highest post today.
"The Bhartiya Janata Party made a person, who belonged to the backward caste, as the Prime Minister of this country, who had faced poverty in his life and sold tea. Our party respects backwards, most-backwards and the dalit communities," Shah said at the rally in Modi's Lok Sabha constituency.
He targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav?and BSP supremo Mayawati, without taking their names, holding them responsible for wide spread poverty in the state and elsewhere.
Appealing to voters from the backward castes to lend their support to BJP to form the next government in UP in 2017, he reminded them that "it was this party which had extensively worked for them during its rule.
"BJP government would work for solving reservation issue in the state. Our party does not play politics on the basis of caste and religion rather our?politics revolves on the agenda of development," said Shah adding that "our aim is to make Uttar Pradesh the most developed state in the country."
"Those who ruled the country for the last 67 years from Panchayat to Parliament-- Congress and its allies-- they always talked about eradicating poverty from the lives of people, but it did not happen.
"The poverty of the countrymen did not go away but the poverty of their leaders had surely disappeared."
He lamented that six decade after independence, nearly 40 crore poor people did not have their bank accounts.
"I want to ask those who have ruled the country for the longest period. Why didn't you think about providing bank accounts to poor, like us. Why it didn't come to your mind."
He said those who have never faced poverty cannot understand its suffering.
"How will you understand the pain of poverty when you
have not ever faced it in your life? Our PM had faced it,so he is working in this direction to improve the lives of poor people," Shah said.
He referred to the Jan Dhan yojna and said "within six months period of Narendra Modi's government, a large number of bank accounts of these poor people were opened".
"Besides this, a facility for availing loan from Rs 5000 to Rs five lakh is also being provided to poor people such as farmers, vendors, rickshaw and auto rickshaw drivers among others under PM?s Mudra scheme,"said Shah.
Shah said earlier bank loans were only given to rich and the corporates.
"Many bankers argued that distribution of loans to poor people will lead to losses, I told them that if a poor person takes loans, he is the one who will surely repay the amount," Shah said.
Shah said the NDA government wants to bring change in the country and Modi is striving for it.
He attacked the Congress over the coal bloacks and 2G spectrum scams and said NDA government has filled government's coffers by their auctioning.
Along with Rajbhar, a large number of people from the backward caste?also joined the party.
The rally was organised in honour of Raja Suheldev, a backward caste king.
Shah recalled the history of Suheldev and said that during his time he had fought against foreign invaders.
Organisers had claimed participation from people belonging to the backward castes such as Bind, Mallah, Kharwar, Kevat, Biyar.
