Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of "undermining" the legacy of B R Ambedkar and asked why it is getting perturbed when his government is working ardently in this direction, saying he felt proud to work at the "feet of Baba Saheb".
Stepping up his offensive against the Congress, he asked the party to "repent" for what it has not done in the last 60 years.
Launching a village self governance campaign at Ambedkar's birthplace in Mhow, Modi made a strong pro-poor and pro-village pitch while underlining the need to strengthen the rural economy to boost the country's development.
Kickstarting the 'Gram Uday se Bharat Uday Abhiyan' (village self governance campaign), the prime minister said he has been inspired by the dalit icon's vision.
Later, addressing a rally, Modi, who has been attacked by Congress for trying to "approporiate" national icons, hit back asking why successive Congress governments had not developed the five places (panchteerth) associated with Ambedkar during their tenure.
Listing a number of measures that his government is taking to carry forward the vision of Ambedkar including on maritime projects and the empowerment of weaker sections, Modi said,"for so many years, the vision of Ambedkar was undermined."
"Some persons are distressed why Modi is doing all this. This is a matter of our dedication and conviction. We believe that social harmony can be achieved only by following the path shown by Baba Saheb. I feel proud to work at the feet of Baba Saheb."
On his government's decision to construct a memorial at 26 Alipur Road in Delhi, which was the last home of Ambedkar, the prime minister asked the Congress why did it not do so in the last six decades.
"Why did you not do it in the last 60 years? When we are doing it, you are getting uneasy. You should repent over why you did not do this all these years," he said.
"Those engaged in vote bank politics thought of nothing else than dividing the society," he said.
"Some people have been calling themselves the messiah of the poor for the last six decades. The account of what they have done for the poor in last 60 years is shocking even as they keep talking of the poor day and night," Modi said as he highlighted the steps taken by his government in the last two years like giving LPG connection to the poor and Jan Dhan Yojana.
With West Bengal Assembly elections underway, Modi also referred to Saradha chit fund scam in which the names of some Trinamool Congress leaders have figured as he spoke about challenges before the poor in saving their money.
"Sometime there is Saradha chitfund and sometime some other chitfund. The money of the poor is taken away," he said, adding that this happened because they did not have access to banks. His government has tried to change it by increasing their access to banks with Jan Dhan accounts.
"We connected the poor with the mainstream, which did not happen in the last 70 years," he said.
Modi, whose government has often been accused by Congress of having a corporate bias, stressed that India's development won't happen through five or 50 cities and industrialists and foundation of villages will have to be strengthened for sustainable development.
"Government's every policy, from rural electrification, financial inclusion, social security to housing, is centred around development of villages. This year's budget is fully dedicated to the villages and the farmers," he said.
The prime minister said that Mahatma Gandhi's dream of gram swaraj has not taken shape yet, and "even almost after 70 years of Independence the desired change has not manifested".
"A change should have come after independence and the nation should have moved forward with the changing times but this did not happen. We have launched this Abhiyan (campaign) to ensure change in villages," Modi said addressing a huge gathering here on the 125th anniversary of Ambedkar at his birthplace.
"I salute Mhow, the land where Dr Ambedkar was born. I am extremely honoured to visit his birth place. The best tribute we can give to Dr. Ambedkar is to transform our villages, which is the sole means to transforming India," he said.
The campaign aims at creating awareness about various schemes of the Centre for rural India, among other things.
All tools of development have to be directed at lifting villages, he said, adding that the whole world was "hailing" India's growth because of the government's work at empowering villages.
The government has taken a resolve to double the income of farmers by 2022, which will be accomplished, he said.
"Some economists and intellectuals told me that doubling the income of farmers was a herculean task. I told them I had been picked up(for the top post) to accomplish this difficult task," he said.
There was a need to improve purchasing power of villagers to strengthen rural economy, as a large chunk of rural populace makes purchases from the cities, he added.
Modi said accelerating rural development could be the biggest engine to boost the growth of the Indian economy.
He said that a planned development of villages can bring big changes and visions of personalities like Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi, who had written about Gram Swaraj, can create this awareness. Recalling the "insult" that the dalit icon faced during his life time, the Prime Minister said that Ambedkar had to taste this "poison" many times and since he was not an ordinary man, such things did not prejudice him and he showed no bitterness or anger towards any one when he wrote the Indian Constitution.
"What else can be greatness. Unfortunately, the contribution of this great human being was brushed under the carpet," Modi said.
The prime minister said that his is a government that is accountable to people. "This is a government, which will account for every penny, every second," he said.
Referring once again to his humble origins, Modi said that if the son of a woman, who used to fetch water in others' houses could become Prime Minister, the credit for it goes to Ambedkar.
Modi said his government had announced that 18,000 villages which don't have power will be electrified in 1,000 days. But now it appears that electricity will reach them in less than 1,000 days due to government initiatives.
"Officers told me that it would take seven years. I told them that people of the country cannot wait for 7 years... I am not ready to take even seven years to complete a work for which 70 years have already passed. Work is now progressing on this with fast pace," he claimed.
Modi said it was unfortunate that even after 70 years of Independence, power hasn't reached such a large number of villages in the 21st century and people in these places are still living in 18th and 19th century. The work to lay optical fibre lines in 2.50 lakh villages was underway to bring in digital connectivity, he said.
