Congress manifesto bears Muslim League imprint: PM
Modi mentions Mission vs Commission, Shakti, triple talaq in Saharanpur, lauds Yogi on law and order
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pitched the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as a “mission vs commission” contest.
Speaking at a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, he targeted the Congress, which released its manifesto on Friday and said it reflects the ideology of the Muslim League and Leftists.
He also dismissed the Samajawadi Party-Congress alliance as a “flop film that had been relaunched”, apparently referring to the 2017 U.P. assembly poll results when the SP-Congress had teamed up unsuccessfully against the BJP.
He said while he was working 24x7 on a mission mode to make India a developed nation by 2047, the “commission-seeking, graft hit opposition” was ganging up against him.
He, however, added that there won’t be any let-up in the crackdown on the corrupt and that it would further intensify.
“The kind of manifesto released by Congress yesterday (Friday) proves that today’s Congress is completely cut off from the hopes and aspirations of today’s India and hence can’t be expected to take the country forward. The same thinking is reflected in the Congress manifesto which was there in the Muslim League during the freedom movement,” Modi said.
“The manifesto of the Congress reflects that the Congress, which once fought for country’s independence, no longer exists,” added Modi who launched his Lok Sabha campaign from Meerut on March 31 and was back again in west U.P. for his second rally in the region in a week’s time.
Saharanpur, which will vote in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 19, has a sizeable Muslim presence and is among the 16 Lok Sabha seats that the BJP had lost in Uttar Pradesh in 2019.
Modi, who began by greeting people with “Ram Ram”, spoke of how this Ram Navmi (the day when Hindus believe Lord Ram was born) would be special, being the first after the inauguration of Ram temple at Ayodhya. He also referred to his government’s decision to scrap triple talaq, the instant divorce practice prevalent among Muslims as one that had helped scores of Muslim families.
“There are many who feel that this decision only benefitted Muslim women. In fact, this move to scrap triple talaq helped scores of families as a married girl is also someone’s daughter and sister. This is such a big decision that Muslim daughters would bless me for a very long time,” Modi said.
Ha also targeted the opposition for their campaign against “Shakti”.
“This is the revered land of Goddess Shakumbhari Devi. This is the place of Maa Shakti, and we are a country that never ignores worshipping Goddess Shakti. But it is the country’s misfortune that the opposition alliance is openly challenging, claiming that they are up against Shakti. How can anyone do that? Our religious scriptures mention the fate that awaits those who tried to destroy Shakti,” he said.
Modi reiterated the BJP-NDA’s “400 paar (400 plus)” seat push and said this was the first time in the country’s electoral history that the opposition was not talking of winning the elections, but focused on merely reducing the BJP-NDA’s numbers.
“This is the first time that I am witnessing the Opposition not talking about winning but about limiting our numbers. That shows the state of the opposition as the Samajwadi Party is changing candidates by the hour while the Congress is finding it difficult to even find candidates,” he said.
He said he and chief minister Yogi Adityanath were pushing for “vocal for local” and “one district one product scheme”.
“We are also planning to open Ekta Mall (Unity Mall) in each state to display the country’s unity. The stones that pelters threw in Kashmir are being used to develop a developed Kashmir,” he said adding, “niyat sahi, nateeje sahi (right intention, right results).”
Lauding chief minister Yogi Adityanath, he said, “Yogiji won’t spare criminals, allow any let-up on law and order.”