A day after the Congress released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the party saying its manifesto had the “stamp of the Muslim League and the Left”.
Addressing election rallies in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and in Pushkar (Rajasthan), Mr. Modi said the manifesto was a “bundle of lies” and “neither has policies in national interest nor a vision for national development”.
Accusing the Congress of wanting to impose the Muslim League’s outlook on India today, Mr. Modi said the document had exposed the party’s “real face” as each of its pages had the contents to “potentially divide the country into fragments”. The remaining portions of the manifesto were dominated by Leftist ideology, he added.
The Prime Minister also said his fight against corruption would continue and his government would take more stringent steps to wipe out corruption in the first 100 days of its third term. Preparations for bigger decisions on this front had started, he added. “What we have already done in the last 10 years was just a trailer. There is much more to come,” Mr. Modi said.
He also criticised the Congress for staying away from the consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya. “Opposing the visit to the consecration of Ram temple? Is it appropriate? Not only this, if someone visited, he was expelled from the Congress party for six years. Can this happen in this country? Can you imagine the country without Lord Ram?” Mr. Modi said, and added, “Lord Ram has got a permanent abode. Ram Navami is coming and people are going to celebrate. Let’s see how much you will oppose it.”
Reaching out to minority voters in Saharanpur, Mr. Modi said his government was practising true secularism and social justice because “our schemes don’t differentiate between beneficiaries”.
Mr. Modi’s rally was in support of BJP candidates in Saharanpur and Kairana where the Muslim votes can prove to be decisive. While the BJP secured the Kairana seat in 2019, it lost Saharanpur to the Bahujan Samaj Party. Polling in Saharanpur will be held in the first phase on April 19.
Alleging that the INDIA bloc parties were “saving” the corrupt, Mr. Modi said while “the BJP is driven by a mission, the Congress is working to earn commission”. Elaborating on his government’s mission, he highlighted the construction of the Ram Temple, the abrogation of Article 370, and the law against Triple Talaq.
Accusing the Congress of indulging in dynastic politics and corruption, the Prime Minister, while speaking in Pushkar, said that he wanted to make India a developed country and the world’s third strongest economic power by 2047.
The Prime Minister also reiterated his focus on infrastructure development, border security and economic progress, saying this was possible because the people had elected a government with an absolute majority. The earlier trend of formation of alliances and coalitions, based on self-interests, had created its own compulsions and pushed the nation’s welfare aside, he said, while exhorting the voters to give full majority for the BJP once again.
Mr. Modi said the inclusive development initiated by his government had ensured women’s welfare in multiple sectors and ensured their respect, security and prosperity, as opposed to the Congress’s neglect of women’s empowerment. “The Congress leaders are in panic today because we have closed their shop of looting the public money, which they had treated as their ancestral right,” he said.
Seeking votes for BJP candidates Bhagirath Choudhary (Ajmer) and Jyoti Mirdha (Nagaur), Mr. Modi expressed confidence that the party would maintain its record of winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the State, like in the previous two elections. Voting for Nagaur and Ajmer will be held on April 19 and April 26 respectively.
