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Congress wants to change Constitution to give quota for minorities: Modi
PM Modi accuses Jharkhand government of looting state's resources, warns voters to 'punish' Congress for alleged plans to change Constitution on reservation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged on Friday that the INDIA bloc government in Jharkhand looted the state’s resources and urged the voters to “punish” the Congress for eyeing to change the Constitution and take away reservation of the ST, SC, and OBCs and give it to the minorities based on religion.
Addressing his first election rally in the state in Singhbhum, a Lok Sabha constituency reserved for scheduled tribes, Modi reached out to the tribal community, listing the achievements of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre for their welfare.
Hitting out at the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) over the issue of corruption, Modi said small-time leaders to the former chief minister have been involved in a land scam.
“Jal Jungle Zameen (water, forest, land) is the identity of tribals. But the JMM and Congress think they own them and are looting the resources of the state. From small-time leaders to the former CM, they have robbed the state. Illegal mining worth several hundred crores was done in their area,” alleged Modi.
“Besides grabbing tribal land, they did not even spare the defence land. The state has seen a major land scam. JMM and Congress are competing with each other in corruption. ₹300 crore cash was seized from a Congress MP. They have maligned the image of Jharkhand. Will you pardon their sins?” the Prime Minister added.
The remarks came on a day when the Jharkhand high court rejected former chief minister Hemant Soren’s petition challenging his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on January 31 on money laundering charges in connection with an alleged land scam in the state capital.
Hitting out at the Congress manifesto, Modi alleged the party would change the Constitution and give a part of the reservation to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to the Muslims.
“They want to survey the properties of the Dalits, Adivasis, poor, and OBCs. They want to give it to Muslims for vote bank politics. They want to change the Constitution. They want to give reservations based on religion. They have done it in Karnataka by issuing a ‘fatwa’ that all Muslims are OBCs. But rest assured that they won’t be able to take away the reservation granted by Babasaheb Ambedkar till the time Modi is alive,” said Modi.
The allegations on the party manifesto have been refuted by the Congress leadership on successive occasions.
However, Modi said the Congress is running away from its challenge of giving it in writing that they would not change the constitution and give reservations to Muslims.
Besides hitting out at the Opposition, the Prime Minister also listed several welfare schemes and decisions of the Union government for tribal welfare and giving a global identity to tribal icons like Birsa Munda, whose birth anniversary is now recognised as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas.
The Prime Minister also held a roadshow in Ranchi on Friday on his way to Raj Bhawan, where he stayed overnight and would address two back-to-back rallies in Palamu and Lohardaga Lok Sabha seats on Saturday.
BJP workers and locals were lined up on either side of the around 8-km stretch from Hinoo Chowk near the airport to Raj Bhawan.
Modi arrived in the city after addressing his first election rally in the state in Singhbhum, seeking votes for party candidate Geeta Kora from Singhbhum and Arjun Munda from the neighbouring Khunti.
The party leaders had made special arrangements at different locations on the way, showering flowers on the open jeep Modi was mounted on for the roadshow.
Ranchi’s sitting MP and party’s candidate Sanjay Seth and BJP legislature party leader Amar Bauri joined Modi on the vehicle during the roadshow.
Meanwhile, reacting to the allegations, JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said it shows BJP’s desperation as they are eyeing defeat.
“They have already stopped raising the “abki baar 400 paar” slogan. The allegations of corruption are baseless. Those who align with BJP get cleaned, while the rest are framed. People of the state would reply to them through the ballot,” said Pandey.
