Congress run by 'tukde tukde' gang and urban Naxals, it hates even Ganpati puja: PM Modi

Further targeting the main opposition party, Modi maintained the 138-year-old outfit has come to hate even Ganpati puja, remarks coming days after he offered prayers to Lord Ganesh's idol at Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud's New Delhi home, drawing criticism from political opponents.

"The Congress which you see today is not the party with which a great man like Mahatma Gandhi was associated," the PM noted, addressing a public meeting at Wardha in Maharashtra organised on completion of one year of the launch of Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Yojana.

"The ghost of hatred has entered the Congress. In today's Congress the soul of patriotism has breathed its last," the BJP stalwart asserted.

Modi also spoke of 'anti-India agendas' of Congress leaders in their speeches abroad, without naming that party's MP Rahul Gandhi, who is facing flak from the ruling dispensation for his remarks in the US on scrapping the reservation system and on the Sikh community.

"If there is a corrupt party it is the Congress and the most corrupt family is its 'shahi parivar' (royal family)," Modi said, without naming the Gandhi family.

"The Congress hates Ganpati puja as well," Modi said. "I went to a Ganesh puja programme and Congress criticised it for appeasement politics. Ganpati Bappa was put behind bars in Karnataka (ruled by Congress). A Ganpati idol was put in a police van," he pointed out.

The PM noted Congress allies in Maharashtra, which include the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP), kept mum and did not take a stand on Ganpati Bappa's insult.

In an apparent reference to the ensuing state assembly elections, Modi said, "In Maharashtra, we have to be aware of their duplicity."

"Falsehood and betrayal are the hallmark of the Congress and the people of Maharashtra should beware of the party," he insisted.

The Congress used farmers only for politics and corruption, Modi alleged.

"We should not give another chance to the Congress, which destroyed farmers," the PM cautioned, adding the party did not fulfill its pre-election promises in Telangana after coming to power in the southern state late last year.

Modi noted SC, ST, and OBC communities are the biggest beneficiaries of the Vishwakarma Yojana, which seeks to empower traditional artisans and craftsmen by providing them with financial support, skill training, and modern tools.

"The Congress did not allow SCs, STs, and OBCs to prosper. Our vision is to ensure the beneficiaries don't remain just artisans, but also become entrepreneurs," he noted.

The PM insisted his government wants to take the textile industry to the global market and restore its past glory.

Modi said the British rulers had conspired to finish off India's traditional skills. Mahatma Gandhi gave a boost to rural traditional skills, but governments after Independence did not give justice to the Vishwakarma community, leading to a decline in the sector, Modi said.

In the last year, more than 20 lakh people from 18 professions were linked to the Vishwakarma scheme, and more than 8 lakh craftsmen and artisans got skill training, he told the gathering.

Modi, who released a commemorative postage stamp to mark one year of the scheme, also visited an exhibition at the National PM Vishwakarma program and met some of the beneficiaries.

During the visit, he launched the "Acharya Chanakya Skill Development Centre" scheme of the Maharashtra government and the state's Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Women Startup Scheme for support to women-led startups.

He laid the foundation stone of a 1,000-acre PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Park at Amravati in Maharashtra.

The PM said Vishwakarma Yojana was not just another government program, but a vision to make use of age-old traditional skills as a roadmap to propel India into the club of developed countries.

Pointing out age-old traditional skills were the basis of many glorious chapters of India's prosperity, he said its art, engineering, science, and metallurgy were unmatched in the entire world.

"We were the world's largest textile manufacturer. There was no match to pottery and buildings designed back in those days," the PM emphasized.

Carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, sculptors, cobblers, carpenter-masons, and many such professionalists used to be the foundation of India's prosperity and spread this knowledge and science to every home, Modi recalled.

More than 700 districts, 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, and 5,000 urban local units are giving momentum to the Vishwakarma scheme, Modi added.

Skill training and upgradation have been provided to more than 8 lakh artisans and craftsmen with the introduction of modern machinery and digital tools. More than 60,000 people have received skill training in Maharashtra alone, the PM told the gathering.

He spoke about initiatives like One District One Product and Ekta Mall where traditional products are being marketed to make Vishwakarma a part of the supply chain of big companies.

The PM touched upon platforms like ONDC (open network for digital commerce) and GeM (government e-marketplace), which he pointed out, have become a medium for artisans and craftsmen to expand their businesses.

Underlining that India's skills are being recognized around the world, Modi noted the country won multiple awards at an event held in France earlier this year.