Modi Accuses INDIA Bloc of Targeting Sanatan Dharma in Chhattisgarh Rally

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Chhattisgarh on Thursday with a sharp message for voters: the opposition INDIA bloc, he said, was bent on dismantling the cultural foundations of the nation itself. Speaking at a BJP rally called 'Shankhnaad' in Raigarh, Modi framed the coming state election as a choice between progress and what he characterized as a coordinated assault on Hindu tradition. The opposition alliance, he argued, had grown so desperate after electoral losses that it had turned to attacking what he called sanatan sanskriti—the cultural and spiritual inheritance spanning thousands of years from Gandhi to Swami Vivekananda, from the medieval saint Mirabai to the queen Ahilyabai. "They want to finish thousands of years of Indian culture," Modi said, warning Chhattisgarh voters to be alert to this threat.

But the cultural argument was only the opening move. Modi's real target was the Congress government currently running the state under Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, which he accused of systematic corruption and indifference to development. He cited what he called scams embedded in the state's administration—including, he suggested with evident contempt, schemes so brazen they extended to fraud involving cow dung. The Congress, he said, had treated Chhattisgarh's mineral wealth as a personal bank account, extracting resources while leaving citizens behind. Where poverty reduction was concerned, Modi argued, Congress had made promises for decades without delivering results, forcing his own government to shoulder the burden of lifting Indians out of poverty.

Modi pointed to specific federal programs the state government had allegedly obstructed. The PM Awas Yojana, a central housing scheme, was being blocked by Congress administrators, he claimed, preventing Chhattisgarh's residents from accessing benefits meant for them. This was not mere incompetence but deliberate obstruction rooted in what Modi called "scam politics"—a system designed to enrich party leaders rather than serve the public. He contrasted this record with the BJP's track record, which he presented as transparent and results-oriented.

The prime minister's visit included more than rhetoric. Before the rally, Modi inaugurated rail sector projects in the state, laid foundation stones for critical care hospital blocks across nine districts, and distributed one lakh sickle cell counselling cards. He held a roadshow en route to the rally, making his presence visible across the region. These infrastructure moves—new rail networks, healthcare facilities—were offered as evidence of the development trajectory he promised if voters returned the BJP to power in the state.

Modi also positioned Chhattisgarh within a larger national narrative of achievement. He referenced India's Chandrayaan lunar mission and the successful G20 Leaders Summit held in New Delhi just days earlier on September 9 and 10, arguing that Chhattisgarh had contributed to these national successes. The state, he suggested, deserved a government aligned with the momentum of national progress rather than one mired in corruption and obstruction. The message was clear: voting Congress meant staying behind; voting BJP meant joining India's forward movement.