Madhya Pradesh polls: Congress uses tribals as vote bank, says PM as he wraps election campaign

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Congress treats tribals merely as a vote-bank, while the "double-engine" government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has constantly worked for their welfare and to transform their lives.

Modi asserted that Congress is staring at a big defeat in Madhya Pradesh where polling will take place for all the 230 assembly seats on November 17.

“When in power, the Congress looked at the tribal community merely as a vote-bank, while the BJP's double-engine government (saffron party in power in MP and also at the Centre) continuously worked for their welfare and to change their lives,” he said.

The PM was addressing a public meeting, his last campaign rally for the BJP in the state for the November 17 assembly polls, in the tribal-dominated Jhabua district.

Modi alleged malnourished kids were used by the party (Congress) to decorate photographs of its leaders.

“The party having such a mentality can never do any good for the tribal community and the poor. They kept these persons away from development because of this mindset,” he said.

The BJP's star campaigner said when the Congress was in power, only news of starvation and hunger came out of tribal areas.

Congress leaders used to visit the huts of Adivasis to get photographed with them and show their poverty only to forget them later, he maintained.

Modi said he has toured the entire Madhya Pradesh while campaigning for the BJP and found the Congress was nowhere putting up a fight against the ruling party.

The Grand Old Party is heading for a big defeat in the state, said the BJP's star campaigner.

He alleged that Congress is suffering from a "mental disease" of not seeing the country's achievements in different fields.

Referring to the BJP manifesto, Modi said it has promised to provide free education to girls from KG to PG levels and open medical colleges in tribal blocks of Madhya Pradesh.

Modi said Congress leaders are only concerned about securing the political interests of their sons, apparently referring to former CMs Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, and took a jibe at their "tear clothes" remarks made in the context of discontent in the opposition party over ticket distribution.