Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hit out at the Congress manifesto and the party's alleged plan to redistribute wealth, while bringing up a 2006 speech made by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Adding that those who left Congress these days have decried the party's manifesto, which was "serious and worrying", the Prime Minister said the Congress has gone into "grasp of urban Naxals." He made the statement during an election rally in Rajasthan.
Citing reports about the Congress's alleged plan to hold a survey to determine the distribution of people's wealth in the country, Modi said "they would even let Mangalsutra remain with women."
"These days those who left Congress say that the party has gone into the grasp of urban Naxals. Congress is now in the grip of Communists. See the Congress manifesto. What they said in its manifesto is serious and worrying. They attempt to implement the Maoist thinking. If the Congress government comes to power, there will be a survey of property belonging to each person. How much gold our sisters have, that will be found out and calculated," PM Modi said.
Modi further attacked the party, saying they "would evaluate the silver our tribal families have."
"How much property government employees have, money, job all that will be probed. They have said that the gold that our sisters have and other properties will be distributed equally. Is that acceptable to you? Does the government have a right to snatch your property? Does the government have the right to take the wealth built by you with your hard work?" PM Modi asked.
He said the gold that mothers and sisters have is linked to their self-respect. "Their Mangalsutra is linked to her dreams of her life. You are talking of snatching it in your manifesto...will distribute gold and redistribute," he added.
The Prime Minister took a further dig at the Congress, stating that Manmohan Singh's government had said Muslims have the first right to the country's assets. "When they were ruling, the party said that Muslims have the first right over the country's wealth. Who will you distribute it to? To those who have more children? Or infiltrators? Is this acceptable?" asked Modi.
He also accused that Congress manifesto said they would calculate the gold and then redistribute the wealth. They will not allow even your Mangalsutra to remain in your possession, they will go to this extent," PM Modi said.
The BJP also shared a 22-second video of Dr Manmohan Singh's speech from December 2006 which he gave at a meeting of the National Development Council on fiscal priorities of the government.
In the decades-old speech, Singh said: "I believe our collective priorities are clear: agriculture, irrigation and water resources, health, education, critical investment in rural infrastructure, and the essential public investment needs of general infrastructure, along with programmes for the upliftment of SC/STs, Other Backward Classes, minorities, and women and children.
"The component plans for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will need to be revitalised. We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources. The Centre has myriad other responsibilities whose demands will have to be fitted within the overall resource availability."
Singh's office had then issued a clarification after the speech triggered a controversy. It said the Prime Minister's reference to "first claim on resources" refers to all the "priority" areas listed above, including programmes for the upliftment of SCs, STs, OBCs, women and children and minorities.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reacted to PM Modi's statement and reference to Dr Singh's speech, stating the Prime Minister now wants to divert the attention of the public from issues. "After the disappointment in the first phase of voting, the level of Narendra Modi's lies has fallen so much that out of fear, he now wants to divert the attention of the public from the issues. Trends have started coming regarding the immense support that Congress's 'Revolutionary Manifesto' is receiving," Rahul Gandhi said in the post.
