Leaders in Pakistan want the “shehzada”, or prince of the Congress — a reference to Rahul Gandhi — to become the next prime minister of India, and are praying for the opposition party to succeed because they want a weak government, PM Narendra Modi said on Thursday, sharpening his attack ahead of the third phase of the general elections.
Modi’s comments linking the Congress with Pakistan — a first in this general elections campaign — came a day after Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a former minister in Imran Khan’s cabinet in Pakistan, shared a video featuring Rahul Gandhi on his social media handle and praised him.
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“Pakistan is crying because Congress is dying here. You all must have learnt that Pakistani leaders are now praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make shehzada the next PM. This is not surprising because we already know that Congress is Pakistan’s murid (follower),” Modi said in Anand.
He said that while Pakistan’s reign of terror was prominent during the Congress rule — a reference to the November 2008 terror attacks, the BJP-led government at the Centre had successfully checked such issues through its holistic development approach.
“The partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been exposed completely. It shows that the country’s enemies want a weak government in India, not a strong one… A weak government which was there at the time of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. They want a corrupt government which was there before 2014. But Modi’s strong government neither bows down nor does it stop,” Modi added.
Unlike in the past when Congress was in power, the “tyres of Pakistan’s terror have got punctured” now, he added.
Modi addressed four rallies in his home state of Gujarat on Thursday, including Anand, Surendranagar, Junagadh and Jamnagar districts, covering 10 Lok Sabha seats. Gujarat will vote in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7. The BJP had won all 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019.
“It’s only during election time that the Prime Minister remembers issues like Hindu-Muslims and Pakistan. Instead of giving an account of what he has done for the country in last 10 years, the PM is resorting to such tactics to divert the public’s mind. He does not talk about issues like unemployment, rising inflation or what happened to the promises like doubling of farm income. BJP has cheated the people of this country and it’s time for them to go,” said Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.
His comments came five days before the third phase of the general elections, where 94 Lok Sabha constituencies in a total of 12 states and Union territories will go to the polls.
Over the past two weeks, Modi has upped his aggression on the campaign trail. He first blamed the Congress of trying to siphon away reservations meant for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes, and give it to Muslims.
Modi then alleged the opposition party wanted to redistribute wealth to Muslims, pointing to a 2006 speech by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had said that the first right over the country’s resources should go to minorities, particularly Muslims. To be sure, the Congress has said that Modi was misrepresenting Singh’s remark, and that the former PM had only spoken of the need to empower the marginalised, including SCs, STs and Muslims.
In Anand on Thursday, Modi repeatedly invoked Pakistan.
“A country which used to export terror in the past, is now struggling to import ‘atta’ (flour). The hands which used to hold bombs are now holding ‘bheekh ka katora’ (begging bowl),” he said.
He contrasted this with India, which is being seen across the world as a global bright spot. “India is seen as ‘vishwa bandhu’ (global friend) who can resolve conflicts between two countries,” he added.
Accusing the Congress of intending to amend the Constitution to provide reservation based on religion, Modi challenged the party to publicly declare its stance on not altering the Constitution to offer reservation to Muslims.
“The Congress wants to give reservation to Muslims, the party’s favourite vote bank. For that, they want to change the Constitution. I challenge Congress to give in writing that they will not change the Constitution to give reservation to Muslims on religious basis.”
He also challenged the Congress and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance to give in writing that they won’t give reservation to Muslims “through backdoor by reducing OBC quota” in the states where the party and its allies are in power.
“I am challenging the shehzada to give this guarantee. There is no sense in taking the copy of the Constitution on the head and dancing. If you want to learn how to live for the Constitution and die for it, then come to Modi,” the PM added.
He said that Congress had resorted to lies while subscribing to the ideals of the “Muslim League” in its poll manifesto.
“The Congress has only indulged in minority vote-bank politics… So much that Congress even boycotted the Pran-Pratishtha of Shri Ram in Ayodhya… the Congress has also tried to create a conflict between Ram bhakts and Shiv bhakts.”
The PM also took a dig at the Congress over senior leader Salman Khurshid’s niece Maria Alam’s remarks on “’vote jihad’.
“Now, the INDI alliance calls for ‘vote jihad’. We have so far heard about ‘love jihad’ and ‘land Jihad’. This (vote jihad) is said by a person who belonged to an educated Muslim family, not by someone who studied in a madrasa. I hope you all know what the meaning of jihad is. This is an insult to democracy and not a single Congress leader has condemned it,” he said.
Alam, a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, had called for a “vote jihad” in favour of the INDIA bloc candidate from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat. Khurshid and Alam were booked for the latter’s alleged speech during a public rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Kayamganj on April 30. According to the FIR, Alam allegedly asked the minority community to go for “vote jihad”.
