In a rally at Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated the urgency for securing a 400-seat mandate for the BJP-led NDA, citing concerns about the Congress potentially reinstating Article 370 in Kashmir and imposing barriers on the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, akin to a “Babri lock.”
PM Modi also criticised RJD leader Lalu Prasad’s remarks advocating quota benefits for Muslims, accusing the INDI alliance of orchestrating a scheme to reallocate reservations from SCs, STs, and OBCs to serve a narrow “vote bank” agenda.
Expressing alarm over the Congress’s manifesto promises, PM Modi highlighted proposals to allocate contracts based on religious criteria and prioritise minorities in sports, questioning the potential implications for cricket team selection.
Furthermore, PM Modi rebuked the Congress for allegedly diminishing the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar, refuting claims that he played a minimal role in drafting the Constitution compared to Pandit Nehru.
“The truth is that the Congress family deeply hates Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he said.
Blaming Congress of spreading rumours that the BJP Government will change the Constitution if it wins 400 seats, PM Modi said it seems the intelligence of Congress people is focused on their vote bank.
“It is important for the country’s people to know the BJP-led NDA already has 400-plus seats in Parliament. We used this number to scrap Article 370 (which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir),” mentioned the PM.
PM Modi wants 400 seats so that the Congress won’t bring back Article 370 to spoil the game and put a Babri lock on the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
About 14 days back, he challenged Congress to give in writing to the country’s 140 crore people that “it will not give reservation based on religion”, that “they will never snatch reservations being given to SCs, STs and OBC” and “they will never give reservations to Muslims through dacoity on the existing OBC quota”.
About Congress giving priority to minorities in sports, the PM commented, “If it wanted to do so, why it divided the country in three parts after 1947. At the same time, the entire country would have been made Pakistan and at the same time, Bharat would have been erased.”
Lashing out at Congress for claiming that BJP will alter the Constitution in the third term, PM Modi replied, “We have used these 400 plus seats to extend SC/ST quota for 10 years, appoint a tribal woman as the country’s President for the first time and to provide reservation to women.”
“Modi is asking for 400 seats so that the Congress does not hand over the country’s vacant land and islands to other countries, it does not take away reservation given to SC/ST/OBCs and give it to its vote bank and does not declare all castes of its vote bank as OBC overnight,” he said.
Without naming Lalu Prasad, PM Modi said a big alliance partner of the INDIA bloc has endorsed what he used to say about their plan to end the reservations for SC, ST and OBCs.
“Their leader who has eaten the animal’s fodder (alluding to Lalu Yadav’s conviction in fodder scam) and convicted by the court, even by the Supreme Court in the corruption case and out on bail due to health… Congress is making him dance on their head. He is saying not only Muslims should get reservations but all the reservations should be given to Muslims. Means they want all the reservation to Muslims by snatching it from SC, ST and OBC,” stated PM Modi.
He alleged the Congress had stabbed Ambedkar, who had opposed the religion-based reservation, and the Constitution in the back.
“The Congress has started saying that he (Ambedkar) had a very little role in framing the Constitution and Pandit Nehru made the most significant contribution,” he said and pointed out that Ambedkar was given the Bharat Ratna when Congress was not in power.
He said if Congress has its way, it will say its vote bank has the first right to live in India and asserted “till Modi is alive, he will foil attempts to erase India’s identity in the name of fake and pseudo-secularism”.
The Congress, which gave the Gareebi Hatao slogan for 50 years, is angry with facilities being given to the poor now, alleged PM Modi.
“Congress leaders are saying they will discontinue the free ration and free medical treatment schemes,” he said, adding Congress has opposed all our works related to “viraasat (legacy) and aastha (faith).
PM Modi said the Opposition was defeated in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, “destroyed” in the second phase, and whatever is left of it in the third phase today will also collapse.
