Turned down Trump’s US invite to visit land of Lord Jagannath: PM in Odisha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a visit to Odisha today said he had politely turned down US President Donald Trump’s recent invitation to visit Washington because of his prior plans to be in the sacred land of Lord Jagannath. The PM, who also visited poll-bound Bihar, attacked the RJD and Congress for misgovernance and accused them of perpetrating “jungle raj”.

The PM, at a gathering in Bhubaneswar to mark one year of the BJP government in the state, said: “Just two days ago, I was in Canada for the G7 Summit when US President Donald Trump called me up and invited me to Washington for dinner and talks. I thanked him saying it was very important for me to be in the land of Mahaprabhu. I politely declined his invitation. Your love and devotion to Mahaprabhu brought me to this land.”

On his sixth visit to the state since the BJP ended the 24-year-rule of BJD’s Naveen Patnaik, Modi launched 105 development projects worth over Rs 18,600 crore and unveiled the “Odisha Vision Document”.

Earlier in Bihar’s Siwan, the PM accused the RJD of insulting Dr BR Ambedkar. “Bihar will not tolerate the insult to a Dalit icon,” the PM said in reference to a recent incident where Dr Ambedkar’s portrait was placed near the feet of RJD’s ailing supremo Lalu Yadav. “Stressing Bihar’s contribution to driving India’s emergence as the world’s third largest economy, Modi said: “Dr Ambedkar was against dynastic rule but they (RJD and partners) do not believe in this. So they place Dr Ambedkar’s portrait at their feet. On my way here, I spotted posters seeking RJD’s apology for this insult to Babasaheb.”

Modi added that the RJD was yet to apologise. “This is because they hold Dalits in contempt. In contrast, Modi keeps Babasaheb in the heart and would like to keep his portrait close to his chest.”

The PM, who was accompanied by ruling NDA partners in Bihar — CM Nitish Kumar of the JD-U and Chirag Paswan of the LJP — inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of multiple development projects worth over Rs 5,200 crore.

On his fourth visit to the state since January, Modi attacked the Congress, saying: “Some families became millionaires and billionaires while after so many decades of Independence, the masses remained poor.”

“‘Garibi hatao’ remained a slogan and poverty kept rising not because of dearth of diligence on part of Bihar’s people. It was the ‘licence raj’ under erstwhile Congress-led government that kept the country poor and fuelled extreme poverty,” the PM added.