PM Modi describes Ghazipur as land of bravehearts, alleges INDIA bloc parties betrayed its people

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pic/AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged opposition parties betrayed Ghazipur for decades and the file with recommendations of the Patel Committee, formed in the 1960s to address poverty in Uttar Pradesh's Purvanchal region, was allowed to gather dust. At an election rally here, the prime minister asserted that Ghazipur tells the tales of valour and bravery, reported news agency PTI.

"Ghazipur and Gamhar village -- the names are enough as brave soldiers emerge from every house here. Has any place other than Ghazipur have this honour? The entire country is indebted to this land," he said. Hitting out at the opposition INDIA bloc, he said, "I am constantly reminded of an old topic and the topic is proof of how INDI people betrayed Ghazipur."

"After Independence, the Congress had vowed that it would not develop this region. People of this place were forced to live in poverty. Old people would know that the problems of this place were highlighted by (Vishwanath Singh) Gahmari Babu for the first time," reported PTI.

Vishwanath Singh Gahmari, a Congress leader who represented the Ghazipur parliamentary constituency in the third Lok Sabha from 1962 to 1967, had raised in the House the issue of grinding poverty in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. This led to the formation of the Patel Committee to find out facts, reported PTI.

In his speech on Saturday, Modi referred to Vishwanath Singh Gahmari and said, "He told Nehru ji in Parliament about the condition of this place. With tears in his eyes, 'babuji' had described how people pick wheat grains from animal dung and eat it."

"But, what did the Congress do? (It) searched for a political opportunity in it. Political drama took place and the Patel Committee was formed to deceive people. The report came and then the file was left to gather dust," he claimed, reported PTI.

Modi said, "Today, I feel immensely satisfied that our government gave free ration to the poor. During such a huge problem of COVID-19, the government did not allow the poor to sleep on empty stomach... The Modi government is spending lakhs of crores on free ration scheme so that the poor do not have to face the problems which they had faced during the rule of the Congress and Samajwadi Party."

Showering praises on Ghazipur, he said, "The prowess of Ghazipur is known more to the country's borders than the historians. Dr Shivpujan Rai, Bhagwat Mishra, Veer Abdul Hamid, Ramugra Pandey and Brigadier Usman -- these names are enough to refer to the tradition of Ghazipur and Gahmar village," reported PTI.

It is a place where from every house, a braveheart comes out, Modi said and asked, "Has any other (place) got this pride except Ghazipur? The entire country is indebted to it."

"The people of Ghazipur feel proud that... today a son of Ghazipur (referring to J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha) is controlling the command of Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Kashmir are also seeing how development is done. Now, even the people in Kashmir have come to know the name of Ghazipur," the prime minister said, reported PTI.

In the Ghazipur Lok Sabha seat, the main contest is between Afzal Ansari of the Samajwadi Party and Paras Nath Rai of the BJP. Voting for the seat will take place in the seventh phase on June 1. Afzal Ansari is the brother of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari who died on March 28.

(With inputs from PTI)