Modi in Nashik: PM hits out at Congress again for appeasing Muslims

During his rally in Nashik, Modi also targeted NCP founder Sharad Pawar, stating that the former Union Agriculture Minister had done little for farmers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again criticised the Congress party for its alleged appeasement of Muslims, claiming that the party has been allocating 15% of its budget to the Muslim community and will continue to do so if elected to power, diverting funds from the share of others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (PTI)

During his rally in Nashik, northern Maharashtra, on Wednesday, Modi also targeted Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar, stating that the Maratha leader and former Union Agriculture Minister had done little for farmers. He added that Pawar and other opposition leaders have realised their impending defeat and have begun discussing the possibility of merging their parties with the Congress.

Modi, who was addressing a rally for BJP candidate Bharati Pawar and Shiv Sena candidate Hemant Godse from the Eknath Shinde faction, claimed that after four phases of the election, the opposition had conceded defeat and started talking about merging their factions with the Congress.

"Both the 'Nakali' (fake) Shiv Sena (led by Uddhav Thackeray) and Nakali NCP (led by Sharad Pawar) will be merged into Congress. They think that by merging smaller parties into Congress, the INDIA block will at least be able to form a formal opposition in the Lok Sabha. The Nakali Sena had been bowing before Congress, which has been cursing Savarkar. But the people of Maharashtra have decided to punish them, and this has been evident in the first four phases of the polls," he said.

In a scathing attack on the Congress, Modi alleged that the party had always designed government budgets based on religion. "They would spend 15% of the government budget on minorities. The budget would be distributed in the name of religion and it would be out of the divisive mindset of the party. For Congress, there is only one minority as it is its beloved vote bank. I, as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, had staunchly opposed this idea of spending 15% of the budget only on Muslims. They could not implement it after our opposition. But now they are determined to implement all their old agendas," he said.

Modi also assured that he would neither allow the distribution of the budget in the name of religion nor permit the diversion of SC, ST, OBC, and EWS reservations to Muslims. "I would not let it happen against the policies of Dr. BR Ambedkar on reservation. This is the election to pick not only an MP but a prime minister who has the might to work for a powerful nation," he said.

Addressing the concerns of onion farmers in Nashik and neighbouring areas, Modi highlighted that his government had made arrangements for buffer stock, unlike previous governments. "We procured 1 lakh metric tonnes of onion and have now decided to create a buffer of 5 lakh metric tonnes more. Our policies have resulted in a 35% rise in onion exports during our regime, and export figures have crossed 22,000 metric tonnes," he said.

Modi also mentioned that Operation Green would benefit onion growers, and cluster development schemes would help grape growers in the coming years. He emphasised that, unlike earlier governments that announced fake packages, he had taken farmer-friendly steps, for which the farmers are grateful.