(July 2018 ---- A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked Congress President Rahul Gandhi over his reported remark that the Congress is "a Muslim party", Gandhi on Tuesday, 17 July, tweeted that he and his party “loved all living beings”, and their religion or caste did not matter.)
"I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me. I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress," he had tweeted.
What's unsaid and perhaps more important is -- there was no denial !!
Even after the row has been triggered, PM Narendra Modi is not on back-foot.
Has Congress party - otherwise known in India as a centrist party - has tilted too much towards communist ideology ?
On Tuesday, (April 23),Modi again raked the issue in an election rally and said:
"Two-three days back I exposed Congress, their manifesto and their politics of Muslim appeasement...This has unnerved them so much".
"Modi has exposed you....your hidden agenda is now before the people. Do not shiver in fear.If you have guts face the truth," the Prime Minister said.
Closer scrutiny of things show Modi has played a trick or rather tried to connect the dots. Technically speaking the Congress manifesto doesn’t mention anything about wealth distribution among Muslims in black and white.
But it does talk about "inequality between the rich on the one hand and the poor and middle classes on the other".
"In 2006, Dr Manmohan Singh made those remarks about Muslims and national resources. Those were unwarranted. Even in 2014, the BJP used the quotes and garnered votes against Congress," says Varanasi-based Tushar Bhadra.
The Congress has actually 'walked' into its own trap in more ways than one, he says.
"The Congress manifesto mentions inequality between the rich on the one hand and the poor and middle classes on the other having increased sharply dealing a body blow to the goals of equality. This is true for a vast and multi cultural nation that followed economic liberalisation since 1991. It is true some people's income increased manifold after 1990s in some sectors and especially those working in IT firms," says Bhadra.
Commentator Ramakanto Shanyal in West Bengal says, the Congress manifesto should not have referred to an independent report “Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023: The Rise of the Billionaire Raj" by global economists, including Thomas Piketty. Worse, Congress also says the party if voted to power will address the growing inequality of wealth and income through suitable changes in policies".
Such statements are open to interpretation and even misinterpretation certainly, says Shanyal.
Likes of Ashutosh Talukdar in Assam says, "It is anybody's guess work that in recent times the Congress party under Rahul Gandhi which was like a centrist party has started leaning more towards Left ideology.
When the Congress is fighting a battle for survival, speaking so much in details on inequality of wealth was an unwise decision. Middle class is irked and the rich corporate houses will now shoe-away Congress. Modi has sensed this and is also using it for polarization which has always helped him garner more votes in the past".
India's Modi says Congress will rob Hindus to help 'vote bank' infiltrator-Muslims
Under the hype of the latest political row, there is an undercurrent of tectonic shift in Indian politics. The latest controversy will finally decide the fate of ongoing Indian elections.
“Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators? Would you accept this?”, thus spoke Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in reference to the principal opposition Congress party and Muslims. This has sparked off perhaps the biggest political row in this year's election season in India and it has immense polarizing power.
"The derogatory reference to intruders is untrue and part of their (BJP's) ideological code. The fact that the Prime Minister himself has come forward to take political advantage by saying communalism during the elections is an illustration of the challenges facing democratic and secular values in the country," Marxist and Kerala Chief Minister Pinyari Vijayan told journalists in Kannur.
Even from a simple administrative point of view conducting a national election is a gigantic task for the poll panel - the Election Commission of India. In the world's largest democracy, an estimated 12 percent of the world’s population is involved in the elections, sharing, arguing and also getting motivated by a wide range of issues from Hindutva to unemployment and issues related to upholding democracy.
Altogether about 969 million are eligible to cast their votes — and the number comes more than the populations of North America and the European Union combined.
Amid these the Election Commission is now examining a terse and allegedly communally sensitive statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wherein he is said to have claimed that the principal opposition Congress believes that minority "Muslims have the first right to the nation’s assets" and also that a future Congress government will distribute the wealth of the Hindus and the rich to be given to the Muslims.
"Even ornaments of Hindu women will not be safe...," Modi said.
The opposition parties including the communists and Congress have demanded actions from the Election Commission saying the Prime Minister has deliberately targeted Muslim minority with ‘hate speech’.
This violated election rules. Now the poll panel is examining the issue and it may consider serving any notice to the Prime Minister for his response to the allegations and can even otherwise issue him some caution.
“Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators? Would you accept this?” Modi asked the crowd at a place called Banswara in the rural part of the desert state Rajasthan.
The Prime Minister went on to add that if Congress won the ongoing election that will end in June, Hindu people’s wealth “will be distributed among those who have more children. It will be distributed to the infiltrators”. The words and phrases like infiltrators and 'more children' apply to Muslims -- at least from the past experience of Modi's public speeches.
In 2002 during the peak of riots in Gujarat, Modi - then Gujarat Chief Minister - had used the phrase "Hum Panch Hamare pachis (we five our 25)" and it was generally interpreted that Modi was referring to the system under which a Muslim man could marry four wives.
As per the Prime Minister, “The Congress manifesto says that it would seize jewellery from women and redistribute them.” He reiterated the same charges while speaking at an election rally in UP’s Aligarh where there are a substantial Muslim population.
Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress president, has reacted strongly accusing Modi of “hate speech” and violating the election model code of rules that ban canvassing based on communal lines.
The Congress party in their complaint maintained that the remarks from Modi were “far worse than any ever made by a sitting Prime Minister in the history of India”.
But BJP leaders find nothing wrong in Modi's statement. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "The Congress party's manifesto is prepared in a way that they win elections in Pakistan. The manifesto is more for the people of Pakistan and less for the people of India".
"The Congress has made a manifesto which will snatch resources from the common people and Congress will destroy the economy of the country. We have interpreted the Congress manifesto in the most right way. I will challenge them to come for a public debate to show that this manifesto is nothing but appeasement," Himanta Biswa Sarma said at Ernakulum in Kerala.
Another BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said, "What kind of thought is it that only one community (Muslims as alleged) has the right over resources meant for everyone?"
"The Congress should apologise to the country...," Yadav went a step further.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made yet another round of attack on Congress and said. "The truth is that when the Congress was in power, they wanted to give separate reservation to their special vote bank (Muslims)....Whereas the Constitution is completely against this...".
This is in reference to Congress party's alleged attempts to introduce 'reservation (special privileges) to Muslims in the state of Andhra Pradesh -- when it was in power in the state.
BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia told journalists in Delhi the PM Modi has only called “a spade a spade” and his remarks resonated with what people thought about the politics of Congress party.
In fact, a Christian Naga politician on the condition of anonymity told UCA News:
"In 2018, Urdu Daily 'Inquilab' had said that Congress minority unit chief Nadeem Javed had quoted Rahul Gandhi of stating in an internal meeting that "Congress is a Muslim party".
PM Modi said if the Congress party adhered to remarks in 2006 of then Congress Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that minority Muslims should have the “first claim on resources” to share in the fruits of development and national resources, then wealth would be distributed to “infiltrators” and those who have “more children”.
Congress leaders are somewhat on back-foot on Manmohan Singh's remarks--"We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources".
To add to this is the Congress manifesto of 2024 that says: The time has come to reset and reprioritize our roadmap for economic development in the context of the twin challenges to our economy, namely, unemployment and inflation".
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said Modi’s “deeply objectionable” statement violated sections of the law that prohibit candidates from asking people to vote on the grounds of religion, community or religious symbols.
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