Congress-ruled states 'ATM' for first family of party, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a jibe at the Congress party, saying that the states in which the party comes to power become the "ATM" of the "shahi parivar".

Modi, who was addressing an election rally in Akola, asked the people to follow the example of voters in Haryana and bring the BJP back to power in Maharashtra.

"Wherever the Congress forms a government, the state becomes an ATM for the Congress Royal family. These days, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana have become their ATMs," said Modi. "In Karnataka and Telangana, extortion has increased. The talk is that Rs 700 crore has been extorted from liquor shop owners to fight the polls in Maharashtra."


Criticising the Congress, Modi said, "The Congress strategy is to weaken the country-the more the country weakens, the more the Congress gets strength."

The prime minister alleged that the Congress was trying to create a divide between castes and that it never wanted castes to stay united. "The more people fight with each other on caste, the more Congress can take advantage of it. They want to take away the rights of the scheduled castes," he said.

Speaking of the Haryana results, the PM said, "I want to congratulate the people of Haryana. They deserve a special thanks as they vanquished the Congress conspiracy. "

Modi alleged that the Congress was always against Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar as it was envious of his work. "From Nehru's time, the royal (shahi parivar) family has always insulted Ambedkar. He never got any credit for the work he did," said Modi. Modi also spoke of how November 9 was the date of the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Temple.