Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress party, saying its Lok Sabha polls manifesto bears an imprint of the Muslim League during the freedom movement.
“The Congress manifesto completely bears the imprint of the Muslim League, and whatever part of it is left is completely dominated by the leftists,” said the prime minister, addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Ajmer. “Every page of the manifesto reflects the mindset of breaking India into pieces”.
Modi 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 audience.
Firing another salvo at the grand old party, the prime minister said: "The Congress of today is bereft of principles and policies. Today, the Congress has neither principles nor policies left. It was apparent that the party had outsourced everything”.
The Congress released its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Friday, making a host of promises, including the right to apprenticeship, a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, and raising the 50 per cent cap on reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Rajasthan will go to the polls in two phases—April 19 and April 26. In the 2019 parliament elections, the BJP won 24 out of 25 seats while the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party won one seat.
Meanwhile, addressing another election rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur later in the day, Modi said the opposition alliance was fighting just to stop the BJP from winning more than 370 seats.
“During its rule, the Congress' focus was on earning commissions. The INDI Alliance too aims to earn commission after coming to power but the NDA and Modi sarkar is on a mission,” he said.
Modi reached out to the Muslim community, saying Muslim women will bless him for centuries to come as he has removed the "sword" of triple talaq hanging over them and their families.
"By ending this practice of triple talaq, we have saved the entire Muslim family and liberated it from the fear of the sword hanging over them. For centuries to come, Muslim daughters will continue to bless Modi," the prime minister said.
Muslim community has a sizeable population in the Lok Sabha constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh.
With inputs from agencies
