The Congress on Tuesday responded to Narendra Modi's 'never said a word against minorities' remark during an interview, saying that the prime minister is fast losing his memory.
“The prime minister is fast losing his memory. He has never had any adherence to truth. He is ‘jhoothjeevi’. What he says today, he forgets tomorrow and says he never said it,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told PTI. Follow full coverage of the Lok Sabha elections.
Ramesh said that prime minister, in his Lok Sabha election campaign, has been attacking the Congress party and making remarks about the Muslim community.
“He (Modi) has been attacking the Congress party, he's been talking of Hindu-Muslim, he's talking about Muslim League, he's talking about ‘mangalsutra’,” Ramesh told PTI. "He has talked about the Congress party giving reservation on the basis of religion. This is all bogus statements that he has made."
Also Read | Congress wanted a 15% budget allocated for Muslims: PM Narendra Modi in Kalyan
The Congress leader also responded to PM Modi's claim of winning a ‘record-breaking 400 seats’ in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
"How can it be record-breaking? Rajiv Gandhi's mandate in 1984 was 410 (seats). What is the real meaning of '400 paar'? Their real intent is to change the Constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar. Removing reservations is their target," Ramesh said.
{{/usCountry}}"How can it be record-breaking? Rajiv Gandhi's mandate in 1984 was 410 (seats). What is the real meaning of '400 paar'? Their real intent is to change the Constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar. Removing reservations is their target," Ramesh said.
{{/usCountry}}Ramesh also pointed out that the ongoing election is a “silent election” and took a dig at the Election Commission.
Also Read | ‘I will not do Hindu-Muslim’: PM Narendra Modi amid ‘infiltrators’ row
“This is absolutely a silent election. The Election Commission is also silent, it is so silent that it has closed its eyes, it can't hear, see, or say anything,” he alleged. "We have lodged so many complaints with the Election Commission...it is a Constitutional authority. They have not taken any action over our complaints against the prime minister's speeches. It took them 11 days after the first phase of voting to release the voter turnout data."
What PM Modi said
In an interview to PTI, PM Modi had claimed that he has not spoken a word against minorities and that he has been highlighting the “vote bank politics” of the Congress.
“I have not spoken a word against minorities. I am speaking against the vote bank politics of Congress. I am speaking on the Congress working against the Constitution," PM Modi said.
The Constitution makers of India, including Babasaheb Ambedkar and Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru, decided that reservation would not be given based on religion. Now that you are turning away from that, it is my responsibility to expose them. BJP is never against the minority, ” he added.