Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday told a Delhi poll rally that this year’s Union budget was “the friendliest” for the middle class in Indian history, seeking to use the proposed income-tax relief to sway voters ahead of the February 5 Assembly polls.

His remarks appeared to confirm the wide perception that the substantial relief in personal income tax in the budget proposals, presented on Saturday, was at least partly aimed at Delhi’s large middle-class electorate.

Modi also cited the sops showered on Bihar, apparently to court the capital’s sizeable “Purvanchali” community — settlers from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. This was the Prime Minister’s last election rally in Delhi, where campaigning closes on Monday.

“The BJP alone respects the middle class and rewards the honest taxpayer. After the budget yesterday, the entire middle class is saying this is the friendliest ever budget for the middle class in the history of the country,” Modi told a rally in R.K. Puram where the crowd was dominated by central government employees.

He went on to mention the proposed implementation of the Eighth Pay Commission’s recommendations.

“You (central government employees) have not just got tax relief, the Eighth Pay Commission (recommendations) is also being introduced, and pension schemes are being consolidated and budget benefits extended to senior citizens and retired government officials,” the Prime Minister said.

The Election Commission had asked the Centre not to announce any schemes for Delhi in the budget since the Model Code of Conduct, which bars any government action that might provide an unfair advantage to a political party or candidate, was in place. The proposed tax relief, however, is for the entire country and therefore offers the BJP an opportunity to use it to influence voters.

Modi dwelt at length on how the tax relief would put money in the pockets of the middle class. He lambasted his favourite punching bags, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, claiming people used to be robbed of big chunks of their income on their watch.

He claimed that those earning ₹12 lakh a year during Nehru’s rule would have had to pay a fourth of their salary as tax, while during Indira’s rule they would have paid a ₹10-lakh tax. He added that a ₹10-lakh tax on a ₹12-lakh income might sound surprising but this was so on Indira’s watch.

“Even during Congress rule just 10-12 years ago, if you had a salary of ₹12 lakh, a sum of ₹2.6 lakh would have gone as tax. But under the BJP government, people (earning up to ₹12 lakh) will have to pay zero tax,” he said.

A sum of ₹12 lakh during Nehru’s or Indira’s time would have far more real value compared with ₹12 lakh today, and tax rates tend to be higher for the super-rich.

Modi also wooed the Purvanchali voters. “The Purvanchali community made me MP and Prime Minister,” he said, alluding to his election from Varanasi.

“The Purvanchali community made me who I am and they have been taken care of in the budget. They were neglected during Congress rule, and people from Bihar were not respected. But we have respected them.”

Modi expressed confidence that the BJP, out of power in Delhi for over 25 years now, would form the government in the capital and bring to it “a new spring of development”.