Congress remembers tribals only at election time: Modi in MP

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday threw an open “challenge to political pundits and economists in the country” to counter his views on the Congress party’s performance in addressing tribal welfare in comparison with the BJP’s efforts. [caption id=“attachment_123978” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Modi at a previous rally. PTI[/caption] Speaking in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh, MOdi said the Congress leaders remember the tribals only at election time. “They open their dictionaries and suddenly remember words such as backward, Dalit, tribal, during election time,” he said. While the Congress rule was almost total for 50 years, it was eventually the NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee which formed a separate ministry and budget for tribal welfare schemes. Modi also touched upon social indicators of development, stating that institutional deliveries of babies went from 26 per cent to 84 per cent after Shivraj Singh Chouhan took charge as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. He said Chouhan had also led a dip in infant and maternal mortality rates. On education, he said there are several Congress-ruled areas of the country where there is no Science stream available for Std XII students. “How can youngsters become engineers here?” he asked. Making a reference to a rising “mood among Indian voters” to “punish” the Congress party, Modi said he was  proud that the party has young leaders such as Shivraj Singh Chouhan who have not only held power but have served the people.