Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1 asked the Opposition Congress to give in writing to the people of the country that it would not introduce religion-based reservations. He also asked the Congress to take a pledge that it would not try to change the Constitution of the country.
Mr. Modi slammed the Opposition party for the idea of “imposing inheritance tax” and told people in Gujarat’s Banaskantha that “if you have two buffaloes, the Congress will take away one if voted to power”.
“This is my challenge to the Congress shehzada (prince, in a reference to Rahul Gandhi), his party, and supporters. If they have the courage, let them announce and give it in writing that they will never offer reservations based on religion. They should pledge to not tamper with the Constitution,” the PM said as he launched his electoral campaign in his home State of Gujarat on the State’s foundation day.
Mr. Modi launched the campaign from Banaskantha, where Congress candidate Geniben Thakor has been targeting the Banas Dairy and its chairman and BJP leader Shankar Chaudhary, whose protégé Rekha Chaudhary is the BJP candidate from the north Gujarat seat where dairy farming is a livelihood mainstay for rural farmers.
On May 1, the PM addressed two rallies — in Deesa in Banaskantha, and in Himatnagar in Sabarkantha, a neighbouring district, where too dairy farming is a major source of income and livelihood for rural communities.
“Recently, a Congress leader from abroad (a reference to Sam Pitroda) suggested a proposal where more than half of your inheritance will be taken away from you and given to the government. A 55% inheritance tax will be imposed. For example, if you have 10 acres of land and you want to hand it over to your children, half of it will be taken over by the government. Similarly, if you have two buffaloes and want to leave them for your children, one will be taken away by the government if the Congress is voted to power,” he said, continuing his vitriolic attack on the Opposition party.
Mr. Modi also accused the Congress of spreading fake videos to target the BJP government, and its alleged plans to allow religion-based quota and curtail quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). He also spoke of how the Congress government was weak and could not fight terrorism. Mr. Modi said that as long as he was alive, he would not allow religion-based quota in the country.
“The party which ruled the country for 60 years has become a fake factory. What they called ‘mohabbat ki dukan’ (shop of love) is actually a fake factory. Congress’ videos are fake, its words are fake, the Congress’ promises are fake, the Congress’ slogans are fake, and the intentions of the Congress party are fake,” Mr. Modi said.
“In 2014, they used to say what would a chaiwala do as PM. But the people of the country responded by rejecting the Congress. Same in 2019 — they made jokes saying chowkidar chor hai (the watchman is a thief), but again people rejected it. This time also, people in Gujarat are waiting to reject the Congress from all 26 [Lok Sabha] seats [in the State],” he said.
The Prime Minister also reiterated that the Congress’ first family would not be able to vote for the Congress in Delhi since that seat had been given to another party. Similarly, late Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s family would not be able to vote for the Congress in Bharuch, where another party is contesting, he said.
In both Deesa and Himatnagar, Mr. Modi mentioned the Congress more than he mentioned BJP, and repeatedly told the gathered crowd why the Congress party’s rule would be not beneficial for the people.
“When terrorists used to carry out major attacks such as 26/11 in Mumbai, people used to die in blasts across the country. Our soldiers were killed in action in Kashmir. What did the weak government of the time do? They would send dossiers with details of where the terrorists came from and what they did. The Congress used to ask Pakistan why they would bomb us,” the PM said, speaking in Hindi.
“That was a time when dossiers were sent. Today’s India does not send dossiers to the masters of terror (“aatank ke aaka“) but a dose, and attacks them in their own turf,” Mr. Modi said to chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
He also spoke of the Shah Bano judgment and how the then government of the late PM Rajiv Gandhi had diluted it to protect its vote bank through appeasement. The Prime Minister said it was his government that had ended the practice of triple talaq and helped Muslim women.
