ELLENABAD (Hry), Oct 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Pakistan on Saturday for conspiring to push drugs into India to “destroy” the country’s youth and called for tackling the problem of drug abuse with an iron hand.
Without naming anyone, he also hit out at the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and its breakaway Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), alleging that the Chautala clan was fighting over the distribution of “ill-gotten” money, and asked people to defeat those who “looted” Haryana in the October 21 Assembly polls.
Senior INLD leader Abhay Chautala is contesting the upcoming election from Ellenabad in Sirsa, which is considered to be a citadel of the Chautalas.
Addressing a rally here on the last day of poll campaigning, Modi asked youngsters to focus on fitness by involving themselves with the “Fit India” movement.
“We have to fight against drug abuse collectively. It will destroy not only individuals, but families, the society and the country,” he said.
Without naming Pakistan, the prime minister accused the neighbouring country of pushing drugs into India.
“When our neighbour could not succeed in its nefarious designs by sending terrorists and weapons, it hatched a conspiracy to smuggle drugs into our country to destroy our youth,” he said, while asserting that “we have to deal with the problem of drugs smuggled from the neighbouring country the way we are fighting terrorists”.
“We have to protect our borders, kill terrorists and save the young generation,” Modi said.
“Our enemy has been conspiring against us to push our youngsters into drugs and we need to tackle it with an iron hand,” he added.
The problem of drug addiction is one of the poll issues in Sirsa, which shares its borders with Punjab.
Hitting out at the INLD and the JJP, Modi accused them of not contesting the election on principles and said these parties were taking the help of “inheritance”.
“Those who considered this area as their fort, what has happened? Is it a fight of principles? No, it is not a fight of principles. This clan has been fighting over the distribution of ill-gotten money.
“Can you imagine how much ill-gotten money they have made that when it comes to its distribution, the children of the same family come face to face,” he said, in an apparent reference to the split in the INLD following a feud in the Chautala clan.
The prime minister asked people to trounce the INLD and the JJP in the Assembly polls.
Training his guns on the Congress, he accused the grand old party of “dividing” people and “exploiting” them for its “vested interests”.
“They had done the same with Haryana. If any family member of the Congress needs land, they look at Haryana. If any Congress family member wants land on contract, they look at Haryana. If the ‘damaad’ of the Congress needs land, then it is from Haryana,” Modi said, in an apparent reference to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.
The Congress and other parties had turned Haryana into their own grazing land, he alleged, adding, “The Congress looted the income and land of Haryana.”
Modi alleged that during the Congress regime, land of farmers was purchased for peanuts and handed over to their “favourites”.
“Under the (Manohar Lal) Khattar government, this practice has been stopped and the noose tightened around those who were involved,” he said.
Modi lauded the BJP-led government in Haryana, led by Chief Minister Khattar, for undertaking equitable development in the state. (PTI)
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