The Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) “insulted” Lord Ram by rejecting an invitation to the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Temple earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, adding that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were a mission for the development of a “new India”.
Read here: ‘INDI alliance abusing and threatening me’: PM Modi slams Opposition bloc in MP
Addressing two poll rallies at Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh, Modi listed his government’s achievements in the last 10 years and sought the people’s blessings to take “big and historic decisions” in the third term of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government.
“People of INDI alliance had hatred even before the construction of the Ram Temple and they have hatred even today. They had moved court so that the Ram Temple is not constructed. They insulted Lord Ram by rejecting the invitation for the pran pratishtha (consecration ceremony),” Modi said in Pilibhit, his first rally in the district as the prime minister, claiming that the Congress expelled its leaders who participated in the temple event.
Modi further alleged that the Congress and the SP were opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) due to their politics of “appeasement”. “Owing to the pressure of appeasement, the Congress and the SP are opposing the CAA as well,” he said, asserting that Hindus and Sikhs were compelled to flee from foreign soil owing to the atrocities committed on them.
{{/usCountry}}Modi further alleged that the Congress and the SP were opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) due to their politics of “appeasement”. “Owing to the pressure of appeasement, the Congress and the SP are opposing the CAA as well,” he said, asserting that Hindus and Sikhs were compelled to flee from foreign soil owing to the atrocities committed on them.
{{/usCountry}}He also invoked Sikh gurus in Pilibhit, where the community holds a sizeable say in poll outcome, and asked many such families living in the district to apply for citizenship under CAA.
“But the Congress and the SP have objections to this as well... What the Congress had done to our Sikh brothers and sisters in 1984, nobody can forget,” Modi said, referring to the anti-Sikh riots. “The BJP stands with Sikhs and respects their sentiments.”
He also pointed to the BJP government removing “langar” items from GST, and opening the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. The 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev, the 400th Prakash Parv of Guru Teg Bahadur and the 350th Prakash Parv of Guru Gobind Singh were celebrated by the BJP government, he added.
Hitting back at Modi, Congress spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh: “He should speak about what his government has done in the past 10 years and not about the Ram Temple.”
The BJP has fielded Uttar Pradesh PWD minister Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit, replacing sitting two-term lawmaker Varun Gandhi. Neither Gandhi nor his mother Maneka Gandhi, the BJP candidate from Sultanpur, attended the rally. Polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held across seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections. Pilibhit will go to polls in the first phase on April 19.
Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat, Modi accused leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc of working to protect the corrupt, and abusing and threatening him to hinder the country’s development.
“I say remove corruption, they say save the corrupt. The people of the alliance have this enmity towards me. I will expose the money from corruption that has gone into their coffers. This work will be done at a faster pace in the next five years,” Modi said, seeking votes for the BJP-led NDA candidates. Balaghat will also go to polls on April 19.
Read here: People won’t forget 1984 riots, CAA benefits Sikhs: Modi slams Cong in Pilibhit
Citing various development projects taken by his government, Modi said the upcoming polls are very important for the future of the country. “When Modi gives a guarantee of the country’s security, they (opposition parties) abuse me. When Modi fulfils the guarantee of abrogating Article 370 (which granted a special status to Jammu & Kashmir), they start talking in the language of Pakistan,” Modi said.
“This is an election for the development of new India... We have to take the rocket of development much higher.” Calling himself a devotee of ‘Mahakaal’, the famous deity of Ujjain in the state, he said: “Modi bows either before Lord Mahakaal or the public. I have learnt from Mahakaal to tolerate abuses and insults for the sake of serving the nation and have also learnt to bring the forces opposing the nation to their end. I am not going to be afraid of their threats.”