In a quick riposte to allegations levelled by Congress president Rahul Gandhi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Rafale deal, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that Congress was a cesspool of corruption and Rahul himself was out on bail in a scam of Rs 5,000 crore.

“The people will give a befitting reply to the Congress during 2019 Lok Sabha poll for making wild charges against the PM. Rahul Gandhi lacks the moral conviction to level such allegation against the PM. The 10-year-long Congress-led UPA government was replete with scams worth Rs 12 lakh crore and they were in power with the support from the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party,” Maurya said at a meeting of delegates of OBC community in Lucknow on Saturday.

Maurya expressed confidence that the OBCs were solidly behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Opposition alliances notwithstanding, the BJP would only improve its tally of seats  in 2019 elections.

Training his guns at SPO and BSP, Maurya said: “During SP and BSP regimes, criminals had a free run and which has come to an end in BJP regime.” Maurya added that the Yogi government was working for the welfare of the poor and downtrodden.

“During the SP-BSP regimes, the benefits of welfare schemes to the poor were given on the basis of their caste and religion. The BJP government is aggressively pursuing the agenda of inclusive development, where every poor, youths and farmers, irrespective of their caste or creed, are getting benefits of welfare and development schemes,’’ he said.

Underlining the importance of OBC votes in electoral politics of UP, the Deputy CM said: “The OBCs constitute 54 per cent of UP’s total population and Narendra Modi would not have become the Prime Minister had OBCs not voted for the BJP and ensured victory in as many as 73 seats in the state.  The Modi government has given a constitutional status to the OBC Commission,” he claimed.

Maurya accused former CM Akhilesh Yadav of not implementing Central schemes for free power connections and free LPG connections. He said that the BJP government inherited empty coffers from the previous SP government yet it financed loan waiver scheme for farmers by mobilising Rs 36,000 crore for the benefit of the farming community.