Mumbai, Nov 13 (IANS) BJP President and Union Minister JP Nadda on Wednesday accused the Congress and Rahul Gandhi of pursuing the agenda of anti-nationals, saying that they joined hands with those who are weakening India.

In his interactive meeting with professionals here, Nadda claimed that the Congress party and its leaders are giving strength to divisive forces.

“Slogans were raised in JNU… 'Afzal we are ashamed, your killers are alive' and 'India will be broken into pieces'. The next day Rahul Gandhi shakes hands with them and supports them, and you (Congress) give tickets to those who raise such slogans. Congress has joined hands with those who are weakening India. Congress party has gone into the hands of urban naxals,” alleged Nadda.

Nadda also took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi for his caste census demand saying that Congress has nothing to do with it. He, however, told the gathering that there are 27 ministers from the Other Backward Classes community in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led cabinet.

He also criticised Uddhav Thackeray for joining hands with Congress by diluting his ideology. The BJP leader also targeted the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi for putting brakes on a slew of development projects including Mumbai Coastal Road, Metro, and Atal Setu among others. However, he added that the MahaYuti government has completed them after it came to power.

“Recently, the Union Cabinet under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi gave the status of elite language to Marathi. This is a decision that will have a very far-reaching impact. Many congratulations to all of you for this,” said Nadda.

“BJP has a special bond with Mumbai because when BJP was being founded, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said in Santanagar that on the western end of India, where the ocean adorns India, I dare say that the darkness will go away, the Sun will rise and the lotus will bloom,” he said.

“BJP worked on strengthening the nation. Once the Make in India initiative was mocked, and now it is becoming the reason for our success. The same Make in India is making us self-reliant. Therefore, the serious political decision had a long-term impact on the country and its economy. Today, 25 crore people have risen above the poverty line. This happened because, under the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, 80 crore people of the country are getting free ration every month. Now no one sleeps hungry,’’ said Nadda while listing the works done by the Modi-led government in the last decade.

Nadda said under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, 55 crore poor people are being provided free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh annually. “We worked on empowering the poor. We are often questioned about providing financial assistance, and we tell them that we never dole out, we always empower the poor,” he remarked.

“Our welfare schemes do not discriminate while providing benefits to the poor. The IMF now says that extreme poverty in India has reduced by less than 1 per cent. Besides, 25 crore people have been elevated from the BPL,” he commented.

“In 1971, Mrs Gandhi nationalised banks, claiming that it was being done for the betterment of the poor and agrarian society. From 1971 to 2015, only 3 crore people had accounts in the bank. However, when Modi ji became PM he ensured that people could open accounts with zero balance, and it resulted in 53 crore bank accounts,” he said.