Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday targeted the Congress and said the party believes that members of only one family has the right over the Bharat Ratna.
Modi was addressing a gathering at a ground-breaking ceremony here for about 14,000 projects across the state worth more than Rs 10 lakh crore.
"Just a few days ago, our government had the privilege of awarding Bharat Ratna to Chaudhary Charan Singh, the messiah of farmers. Honouring Chaudhary Saheb, the son of the soil of Uttar Pradesh, is an honour for crores of farmers and labourers of the country. But unfortunately, the Congress and its allies do not understand this," he said.
"You must have seen that when (name of) Chaudhary Charan Singh was being discussed in the Parliament, how the Congress people made it difficult to even speak about Chaudhary Saheb. Congress people believe that the members of only one family has the right over Bharat Ratna," the prime minister said.
He further said that the Congress did not confer Bharat Ratna even on Baba Saheb Ambedkar for decades as they kept giving it to their own family members.
Ambedkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, posthumously in 1990.
"The Congress does not want to respect the poor, Dalits, backward classes, farmers and labourers because they do not exist in its thinking," Modi said.
Even during the lifetime of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh ji, the Congress had tried hard to bargain with him, he said. "Chaudhary Saheb left the post of PM but did not compromise with his principles."
Modi said Chaudhary Charan Singh hated political bargaining, but it is sad that the parties in Uttar Pradesh doing politics in his name did not follow Chaudhary Saheb's principles.
The prime minister said the country can never forget what Choudhary Saheb did for small farmers. "Today, taking inspiration from Chaudhary Saheb, we are continuously empowering the farmers of the country."
—PTI