INDI Preparing Ground to Break Country Once Again on Basis of Religion: PM Modi

Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said Muslims now understand that the Congress and INDIA bloc are using them as pawns, asserting that the community is distancing itself from them after seeing the development carried out by the BJP.

Addressing a rally in support of BJP candidate Rekha Verma in Dhaurahra, Modi said that the poor and those belonging to the SC, ST and OBC communities have also come to the BJP.

"Muslim brothers and sisters are seeing that (houses under) PM housing scheme were given to all the needy. Be it water connection or gas cylinder under Ujjwala Yojana, every government benefit was given to all...they (Muslims) are also getting benefits of all schemes without discrimination," Modi said.

"The Muslim community also realises that the Congress and INDI alliance have made them pawns," he said, adding that "that is why the Muslim community is also distancing itself from these contractors of vote bank politics".

Now, to save the Muslim vote bank, these people (opposition) are playing a new game and are out doing appeasement in the open, he said.

The prime minister said the manifesto of the opposition reflects Muslim League's thinking.

BR Ambedkar and even Jawaharlal Nehru had said it clearly that there would be no religion-based reservation, but the Congress and INDIA bloc are "adamant on giving reservation on the basis of religion", he said.

"They don't realise that they are preparing a ground to break the country once again on the basis of religion," the prime minister said.

He went on to say that in Karnataka, Muslims were "made OBC" overnight and provided reservation from the OBC quota.

"They (Congress) now want to do across the country what they did in Karnataka. They want to rob the reservation for SC, ST and OBC on the basis of religion," he claimed.

"Politics of appeasement has become compulsory for the existence of 'shehzade' of SP and Congress," Modi said in an apparent attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

"I will not allow reservation on the basis of religion...there will be no theft of the reservation for SC, ST and OBC till Modi is alive," said the prime minister.

He also alleged that the INDIA bloc has an eye on the people's property. "They say that they will do an X-ray of your property and take the excess and distribute it among their vote bank," he said.

Modi also attacked the opposition over the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The SP, Congress and INDI alliance claim that after coming to power they will bring back Article 370. They have disrespected Babasaheb BR Ambedkar who gave us the Constitution which was for everyone," he said.

But the Congress did not implement it across the country, he added.

"The Indian Constitution was not implemented in Jammu and Kashmir. Dalits, tribals and OBCs did not get reservation there. There was a wall of Article 370. Modi buried this (Article 370) in kabristan (graveyard) after coming to power," said the prime minister.

Modi claimed the opposition says that they will stop facilities like free ration scheme and Vande Bharat trains after coming to power.

"I want to ask SP and Congress people...will you convert Ram Temple into a hospital after coming to power? Will you run a bulldozer over Vishwanath corridor in Kashi?" said the prime minister.

He started his speech with the issues of farmers and said, "Friends, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur area are called the sugar bowl of Uttar Pradesh. But the SP government during its regime added bitterness to the lives of my sugarcane farmers." Attacking the previous governments, Modi said, "Sugarcane farmers did not get paid for their produce for years. Even if payment was made, the money was given in instalments. All these shortcomings have been removed by the BJP government." He added that his government is pushing for ethanol production to benefit the sugarcane farmers.

Modi also hit out at the previous UPA government and said when they were in power 10 years ago they did not allow the police and agencies to act against terror.

"The same situation was in UP. There were terrorist sleeper cells in so many cities during the previous SP government. Terrorist organisations used to issue threats openly. When security agencies would catch the terrorists, the SP government used to withdraw their cases," he alleged.

"In the matter of releasing the 'terrorists' of Varanasi blast case, the court had asked the then SP government whether it now plans to give Padma Bhushan to terrorists," the prime minister said.

"So much used to happen, after all for whom...there is only one answer: for appeasement, for vote bank," he added.

At the rally, the prime minister was accompanied by sitting Dhaurahra MP Rekha Verma, MP from Lakhimpur Ajay Mishra Teni, BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudary and BJP candidate from Sitapur Rajesh Verma.

In Dhaurahra, BJP's Rekha Verma is pitted against Anand Bhadauriya of SP and Shyam Kishore Awasthi of BSP.

Polling in Dhaurahra is scheduled on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Republic staff and is published from a syndicated feed)