Modi compares Congress to 'rusted iron', calls for vigilance ahead of polls in Madhya Pradesh

The outburst by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday came during an address to BJP members in the battleground state of Madhya Pradesh. He compared the Congress to "rusted iron" and claimed the party was now being run by "urban Naxals."

Modi urged his party members not to provide the "slightest opportunity" for the "dynastic and corrupt" Congress to regain power because doing so would put the state back in the "Bimaru" category.

The abbreviation "Bimaru" was created in the 1980s to highlight the poor performance of the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh in terms of the economy, healthcare, and education. It's a pun on the illness-designating word "bimari" in Hindi.

The Congress is a dynastic party with a history of corruption that totals millions of dollars. On the day of Deendayal Upadhyaya's birth, a co-founder of the BJP's earlier incarnation, the Jana Sangh, Modi addressed the cadre and compared it to corroded iron that would deteriorate if left outside in the rain.

Modi claimed that the Congress had "urban Naxals" handle everything, including the philosophy and slogans.

The Congress doesn't like anything that India does, he remarked, regardless of how significant the accomplishment.

The women's bill, which reserves 33% of seats in Parliament and the Assemblies for women, was passed, and Modi continued to take credit for it, blaming the Opposition group INDIA of reluctantly adopting it because they couldn't ignore the "power of women."

A women's reservation bill was, however, passed by the Congress-led UPA in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, but it lapsed after that.

Modi cautioned his audience that the Congress and its allies will attempt to split "Nari Shakti" (women power) without specifically addressing the Congress's demand for an OBC sub-quota inside the reservation for women.

Will you allow Nari Shakti to be divided? he pleaded with the assembled women.

According to Modi, if given the chance, the Congress would reject the law. He claimed that after endorsing the legislation, the party was now criticizing it.

The problem with the current measure, according to the Congress, is that by linking the implementation of the reservation to a census and delimitation, it appears to put off that process for years.

The desire for an OBC sub-quota within the women's quota has been endorsed by BJP veteran Uma Bharti, who served as the party's OBC face in the past.

"The Prime Minister is warmly welcomed in Bhopal. The former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh wrote on X on Monday, "He is the messiah of the poor and backward, and I am sure he will give a positive signal on OBC reservation for women."

In the lead-up to the election, Uma has been criticizing the BJP out of frustration at being ignored by the party.

The BJP has held office in Madhya Pradesh for four consecutive terms and currently faces opposition from voters who are both angry and weary. Additionally, the state BJP's factionalism has given rise to numerous candidates for chief minister.

The Prime Minister claimed that since the BJP had ruled the state for 20 years, the youths who would be casting their first votes would not have witnessed the Congress in power, in an apparent attempt to combat anti-incumbency.

He told the young voters, "They are fortunate that they haven't seen the bad governance of the Congress," and he advised them to ask their parents and grandparents how terrible things were while the Congress was in power.

He instructed BJP supporters to visit homes and inform or remind residents of the Congress' mismanagement of the state.

The conflict in Madhya Pradesh is bipolar, just like in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which are also going to the polls this year.