Katihar, Apr 21: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that NDA during its ten years of rule in the country had promoted and protected the rights of Backwards and Extremely Backwards and cautioned the people that INDIA bloc would trample them if voted to power at the Centre after ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Shah sharing dais with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, while addressing a public meeting in favour of JD(U) candidate Dulal Chandra Goswami in Katihar Lok Sabha seat, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi was from Backward classes and it was BJP which promoted him to become Prime Minister. On the other hand, Congress which remained in power at the Centre for several decades, had ignored the interests of Backwards, he alleged.

” Congress during its regime kept Kaka Kalekar Committee report in cold storage to deny the due rights to backwards while the party strongly opposed the move to implement Mandal Commission recommendations”, Union Minister, also a senior BJP leader said.

Backward Classes Commission at the national level was given statuary status by the Narendra Modi government and Congress regime had denied this right to the Commission while the party was in power at the Centre, he pointed out.

” If INDIA bloc was voted to power at the Centre after Lok Sabha elections, atrocities against backwards would increase again”, Shah said adding that Prime Minister Modi had given enough representation to Other Backward Classes(OBC) in his cabinet, he pointed out.

Union Minister targeted Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for his stand against Article 370 relating to Jammu and Kashmir, saying Kharge had raised objections over referring to Article 370 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leaders in Rajasthan and other states. What was the need to talk about Article 370 in other states, Kharge had pointed out, he recalled. Did Jammu and Kashmir not belong to India, he asked and added that youths of Bihar and other states had sacrificed their lives while defending the border of the country in Kashmir.

Shah said that the Narendra Modi government had made air strikes and surgical strikes to target terrorist camps across the border after the Pulwama attack in Kashmir. Menace of terrorism had been controlled to a great extent after NDA was voted to power while during the previous regime of Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, no stern action was being taken to combat it, he alleged.

Union Minister said that several welfare schemes had been launched by the Narendra Modi government. More than eighty crores people were being given free ration every month under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna and it would continue till the next five years, he added.

Shah said that four crores of pucca houses were built for the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and 10 Crores of poor families were given cooking gas cylinder connections under Ujjwala Yojna. Poor families were being given free treatment up to Rs 5 lakhs under Ayushman Bharat Scheme, he added.

Chief Minister Kumar while addressing the meeting said that he would now continue with BJP and remain part of NDA. For some months recently, he had moved away from NDA but now returned to its fold, he further said adding that his party JD(U) had been in alliance with BJP for nearly three decades.

Kumar appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support extended to his government for the development of Bihar. With NDA remaining at the helm of affairs both at the Centre and in Bihar, there would be accelerated development of the state, he stressed.

UNI