Unlike Cong, I don’t care for vote bank: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that he could take bold decisions on abrogation of Article 370, triple talaq or Citizens Amendment Bill (CAB) precisely because he firmly believed in implementing the promises made in the BJP election manifesto.

“The reason behind such swift action is that I never care for vote-bank politics, unlike the Congress. Since 1947, the Congress has avoided taking bold decisions (just to appease a particular section), thereby pushing the nation to backwardness,” said Modi at a BJP election rally in Dhanbad. He lashed out at other Opposition parties too for not fulfilling the promises made in the manifesto.

Rahul on farm loan

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday reiterated that if the alliance, comprising Congress, JMM and the RJD, was voted to power, the first step the Jharkhand government would do was to waive off farmers loans up to Rs 2 lakh. “We have done so in Chhattisgarh. We will do so in Jharkhand… Unlike Narendra Modi, I don’t make hollow promises. He coined a slogan ‘Make in India’, but the slogan has changed to ‘Rape in India’. Every day, newspapers are flooded with reports of crime against women and this man (Modi) will talk of ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’. Someone should tell him ‘beti bachao’ from the BJP leaders,” said Rahul in Rajmahal, in an oblique reference to suspended BJP MLA in UP, Kuldeep Singh Sengar and former Union Minister Chinmayanand, languishing in jail on rape charges.

Yashwant, Dhoni vote

Meanwhile, polling in 17 seats, out of 81 constituencies in Jharkhand, was conducted peacefully. Of these 17 seats, voting in 12 constituencies took place till 3 pm only, since these places were in the Naxal-infested zone.

In Hazaribagh, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, along with his son Jayant Sinha (who is a BJP MP from Hazaribagh, besides being a former Union Minister), exercised their franchise. In Ranchi, former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni, his wife Sakshi and ex-Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay exercised their franchise.

Cash seized

In another development, Congress Rajya Sabha member from Jharkhand, Dheeraj Sahu was found carrying 
Rs 36.5 lakh in his luggage at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport. He was detained by the CISF and air intelligence sleuths but eventually, let off. However, on reaching Delhi airport, the I-T sleuths quizzed the Congress MP about the source of income.

“Unable to give a satisfactory reply, the I-T department seized the cash,” said the source.