Gurdaspur, May 24 (IANS) Accusing the Congress of inflicting maximum wounds on people of the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the party and the opposition INDIA bloc continue to fuel separatism in Punjab.

"Who knows the real face of the INDI alliance better than Punjab? They've inflicted the most wounds on our Punjab. The wound of division after independence, the long period of instability due to selfishness, a long period of unrest in Punjab, an attack on the brotherhood of Punjab, and an insult to our faith, what hasn't Congress done in Punjab," asked PM Modi while addressing an election rally in Gurdaspur.

"Here, they fueled separatism. Then they orchestrated a massacre of Sikhs in Delhi. As long as Congress was in the Central government, they saved the rioters. It's Modi who opened the files of the Sikh riots. It's Modi who got the culprits punished. Even today, Congress and its ally party are troubled by this. That's why these people keep abusing Modi day and night," he added.

Replacing Bollywood actor Sunny Deol, the BJP has fielded Dinesh Singh Babbu from one of its strongest seats which was represented four times by late actor Vinod Khanna till he passed away in 2017.

Babbu, a three-time legislator who hails from Manwal village of Pathankot, will take on Congress' four-time legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who was the deputy chief minister in the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government.

Gurdaspur lies in the north of Punjab and shares an international border with Pakistan. The constituency, which has seen two major terrorist attacks by Pakistan-backed militant outfits in the recent past, is dominated by the Jat Sikhs and has the highest number of serving and retired defence personnel.

Laying more emphasis on security in his speech, Prime Minister Modi said that the INDI Alliance wants to reintroduce Article 370 in Kashmir.

"They want terrorism back in Kashmir. They want to hand over Kashmir to separatists again. They will send messages of friendship to Pakistan again. They will send roses to Pakistan and they will carry out bomb blasts," he said.

"There will be terrorist attacks on the country. The Congress will say, we have to talk, no matter what. The Congress is building up the atmosphere for this. Their leaders are saying, Pakistan has an atomic bomb. Their people are saying, we'll have to live in fear of Pakistan. These INDI alliance people are speaking Pakistan's language," Modi stressed.

Discarding the anti-national thought process of the Congress and its allies, PM Modi said, “The problem with the Congress is that it has no faith in India. The scions of the Congress tarnish the country's image when they go abroad. They say that India is not a nation. Therefore, they want to change the nation's identity. The mentor of the scions has said that the construction of the Ram temple and celebrating Ram Navami in the country threatens the identity of India."

Emphasising the need for rapid development, the Prime Minister assured the people of Gurdaspur and the entire country of his unwavering commitment to their progress and prosperity.

"Punjab's development is Modi's priority. The BJP government is building highways like the Delhi-Katra highway and the Amritsar-Pathankot highway here. The BJP is developing railway facilities here," he mentioned.

"Our effort is to create new opportunities in Punjab, to benefit the farmers. In the past 10 years, we have procured record amounts of rice and wheat across Punjab. The MSP, which was fixed during the Congress government, has been increased by two and a half times. Farmers are receiving PM Kisan Samman Nidhi for seeds, fertilizers, and other necessities," he added.

In 2019, the BJP had an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab. It contested three Lok Sabha seats (Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur), while the Akali Dal contested the remaining 10 seats.

At that time, Congress won eight seats - Amritsar, Faridkot, Anandpur Sahib, Jalandhar, Khadoor Sahib, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala - while the Akali Dal won Bathinda and Ferozepur and the BJP triumphed in Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur.

Having nine assembly constituencies, Gurdaspur has 15,95,284 voters, including 7,45,479 women.

Polling in all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.