It's a blistering attack. PM Narendra Modi now says the Congress manifesto ‘reflects Muslim League thinking’
Mr Modi on Saturday, April 6, said the Congress party’s election Manifesto, was “a bundle of lies” and every page of the document “reeks of an attempt to break India into pieces”.
“The same thinking is reflected in the Congress manifesto as was present in the Muslim League at the time of independence," the Prime Minister said.
"Congress ke Ghoshna patra mein wohi soch jhalak ti hae, jo soch .....Muslim League mein thi"
“The Leftists have taken over whatever was left of this manifesto bearing the stamp of the Muslim League. Today, Congress is left with neither principles nor policies. It seems as if Congress has given everything on contract and has outsourced the entire party,” he said addressing a rally at Ajmer in Rajasthan.
The poll campaign is crucial in Rajasthan as the BJP had bagged all 25 seats in 2014 and 2019 from the state. While the BJP had wrested power from Congress in 2013; the saffron party was voted out in 2018 assembly polls in the desert state.
PM Modi also stepped up his attack on the Congress over the issue of corruption. He said that the party was trying to save the corrupt.
“Wherever there is Congress, there cannot be any development. The Congress never thought about the poor, marginalised and youths... These people considered looting public money as their ancestral right. In the last 10 years, Modi has provided a permanent cure for the disease,” he said.
“It can only be said about the Congress – ‘ek to karela, uppar se neem chadha’. It’s a party of dynasties and equally a corrupt party... Modi has pulled down the shutter of their shop of loot. That is why they are in a panic,” he said.
The prime minister reiterated his party’s commitment to building “new India”. PM Modi told the gathering that the decision of the citizens of the country will decide the future for the next hundreds of years.
"The Congress issued a bundle of lies in the form of its manifesto which has unmasked the party. Every page reeks of attempts to tear India apart. It reflects the thoughts that the Muslim League had before Independence.
The Congress wants to impose the Muslim League's thoughts from that era on the India of today. And what is remaining of the manifesto is dominated by communist and leftist thoughts," PM Modi said in Hindi.
The Congress has hit back at the PM and said he "does not know his history".
Claiming that the Congress of today is bereft of principles and policies, the Prime Minister said it was apparent that the party has outsourced everything. He then went on to ask whether such a party could do anything that would be in the country's interest, eliciting a loud "no" from the people in the audience.
"If you look at the manifesto, it is clear that they want to push India back into the past century... The Congress has never bothered about nari shakti (women power). Generations of women have suffered after Independence. Shouldn't a Congress like this be punished? Use your vote on April 19 and punish the Congress," the PM said.
Highlighting the schemes for the construction of toilets and providing LPG cylinders, tap water and nutrition for pregnant women, the PM said his government cares not just for women but even the babies that are about to be born.
"My brave daughters could not join the Army, Modi opened those doors. I opened the doors of the Sainik schools. We ensured six months of maternity leave for women and also passed a law for reservation for our mothers and daughters in legislatures..."
Modi also said:
"I am proud that women in our villages, who could not ride cycles, are now flying drones and ISRO projects are also being handled by women".
There could be a game ....when Rahul Gandhi is himself cautious not to make 2024 battle a 'Rahul Vs Modi contest', Stalin calls Congres leader "dynamic" ....
"They might tout Modi as ‘Vishwa Guru,’ but when you look at the indifference towards states like Tamil Nadu, or the confrontation at the border with China, his silence speaks volumes.
He is no ‘Vishwa guru’. In the coming elections, a dynamic young leader like Rahul Gandhi is set to dismantle that cultivated image of Modi and the broader RSS narrative." -- says M K Stalin, DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
Elsewhere in Maharashtra where there are complex issues between NCP and Shiv Sena factions too, there is an attempt to keep the politics as battle between Rahul and Namo; as it could help override complexities at the local level.
In Tamil Nadu, one interpretation of things as going on ground is there is a fast growing anti-DMK sentiment over corruption and anti-Sanatan politics pushed by the ruling party in the state -- and hence Stalin is looking for a scapegoat to suggest later that 'projecting Rahul' (indirectly) or not projecting anyone specifically as alternative to Narendra Modi has proved to be a disaster.
Let us take a closer view at Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar's earlier bastion -- Baramati has become a do-or-die battle for everyone.
The BJP and leaders such Devendra Fadnavis and Amit Shah want to humble 'senior Pawar-sahib'. Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule is desperate to win and Ajit Pawar wants to humble his cousin so that uncle is taught a lesson.
Sources say, even before Sunetra Pawar’s (Ajit Pawar's wife) candidature was announced, the BJP leaders had focussed on this seat -- which it has never been able to win in Maharashtra.
Fadnavis came up with his 'new narrative' for Baramati when he billed that the fight in the Lok Sabha constituency was not between Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar but between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. For BJP -- this is earlier political twist to any game !!
Many say Ajit Pawar has put forward his best player in the batting order to take on his cousin Supriya Sule in the 'family' bastion.
A win in Baramati is also important for Ajit Pawar, who is looking to reassert his "political hold".
Over the years he lived under the shadow of his uncle Sharad Pawar.
With the Election Commission granting the NCP name and symbol to his faction, he may have won the first round but electorally, Ajit Pawar’s leadership remains untested. And hence the persona of Modi 'behind him' can counter Sharad Pawar effectively.
Moreover, for the BJP shifting its narrative is that the party would like to 'negate the sympathy factor' in favour of Sharad Pawar, who is fighting one of the most challenging elections in his decades-long political career.
Sharad Pawar is 82 and he had clearly annoyed Modi-Amit Shah duo when in 2019 he used Balasaheb Thackeray's son Uddhav and 'over ambition of Uddhav's son' to break the NDA.
In some political parlance -- there is no 'kshama (forgiveness)' !!
In Tamil Nadu, there are already reports that anti-DMK narratives are gaining ground and at places even key leaders and former union ministers have been gheraoed by public and tough questions were thrown up.
This means Stalin is realising that things could be slipping out of his grip. As it is, Tamil Nadu voters are generally pro-change. They have record of throwing out DMK and AIADMK regimes with massive landslides margins. Traditionally this is Stalin and DMK's turn to face the onslaught of people's wrath. In the absence of Jayalalitha and there is a 'weak AIADMK', many might have thought DMK-Congress alliance will sweep yet again.
This could have been possible had not the BJP upped the ante. Surveys are already giving encouraging feedback to the saffron party. Some surveys have said the BJP may win 3 seats in Tamil Nadu; Times Now is even claiming the Lotus may end up bagging two to six seats.
Sickularism may call it 'right wing' politics. But upper caste Hindus in Tamil Nadu have for long suffered the arrogance of anti-Sanatan politics.
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