I may come from low caste, but trying to uplift every poor person: PM Modi

Ghazipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that he might come from a low caste but he is "trying day and night to uplift each and every person from the lower caste and every poor person in the country."

Claiming that the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) all through their campaign targeted him for coming from a "lower" caste, Prime Minister Modi said: "I might come from a low caste but I am trying day and night to uplift each and every person from the lower caste and every poor person in the country."

Prime Minister Modi was addressing an election rally in favour of Union Minister Manoj Sinha, who is seeking re-election from this seat. Ghazipur goes to poll on May 19, the last phase of seven-phased Lok Sabha polling. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

Expressing his dismay over the Congress government in Rajasthan for allegedly burying Alwar gang rape case due to polls, Modi said: "You must have heard of the incident from Rajasthan's Alwar district in the past two-three days."

"A Dalit girl was gang-raped by thugs. Instead of catching the accused the Congress government is trying to bury the case. This happened because there were elections in the state then. They delayed justice. This is the truth of Congress' justice," he said.

"I also want to ask why the Congress 'darbaris are 'silent now. Why there is no candle march for Alwar's rape victim today. I want to ask the 'Award Wapsi' gang why are they silent when injustice has been caused to Alwar's daughter," he said.

A woman was allegedly gang-raped by five men while her husband was beaten up in Thanagaji area of Alwar district in Rajasthan on April 26. The woman and her husband were on a bike, when about five men aged between 20-25 years, stopped them and took the couple to a deserted place.

The husband was allegedly assaulted and tied up while the woman was gang-raped. The culprits, reportedly, also threatened the couple not to report the matter to the police or they would make the video public.

Earlier addressing an election rally at Sonbhadra, Prime Minister Modi said: "SP-BSP, who first ruined UP, are now hugging each other to save themselves from falling apart. Those who wanted to send each other to jail now want to send them to the palace today."

"The leaders of SP and BSP do not tell the people what is their policy for the nation. Whatever they talk about, abusing Modi is at the top of it. What will be their strategy to deal with terrorism -- Naamdar, Behen ji and Babua ji will not speak anything about this," he said.

Arch-rivals in Uttar Pradesh -- SP and BSP -- have forged an alliance after the BJP swept Lok Polls in 2014 and registered landslide victory in Assembly elections of 2017.

Reiterating his poll campaign for a 'strong government' at the Centre, Prime Minister Modi said: "When there is an adulterated government at the Centre, then national security is put at stake. When there was a Third Front government, Samajwadi Party was in the Cabinet. What had they done to the country?"

"Many people have written about this before. They have said that the adulterated government had destroyed had intelligence system. The country has to suffer for that. What third front government had done is nothing less than crime," he said.

Calling the UPA government, which was in power from 2004 to 2014 as a "remotely controlled" government, Modi said: "After the government of Atal ji, the country saw such a weak government again, saw the government of such great people, who put the credibility of the country on the stake. Then remote-control government destroyed ten years of the country."

The Prime Minister also underlined that India had tested its first nuclear test on this day 21 years ago. "21 years back on this day, India successfully carried out nuclear test - operation Shakti. I salute scientists who brought laurels to the country with hard work. This historical incident in 1998 proves what strong political willpower can do for national security," he said.

"India always had such ability but governments prior to Vajpayee government did not have the courage to take such decision. You can achieve this only if your priority is national security. Only then can you have the courage to take a decision for the nuclear test," said Prime Minister Modi.