Congress manifesto bears Muslim League’s imprint, says PM; Cong answers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on the Congress, saying on Saturday that the opposition party is cut off from the hopes and aspirations of today’s India and that its manifesto reflects the mindset of the Muslim League during the freedom movement.
In his first reaction to the Congress manifesto released yesterday, Prime Minister Modi said it “carries entirely the stamp of the Muslim League” and the remainder is dominated by the Leftists.
Addressing an election rally in Saharanpur, Prime Minister Modi said the people of the country feel that the Congress that fought for the country’s independence had ended decades ago.
“You would have seen that the manner in which the Congress released its manifesto yesterday proved that the present Congress is cut off from the aspirations and expectations of the present India. The manifesto released by the Congress reflects the same mindset that prevailed in the Muslim League during the deprivation of liberty. conflict. The Congress manifesto completely bears the stamp of the Muslim League and the little remaining portion is dominated by the Leftists. Congress is not visible in this,” Prime Minister Modi said.
He said such a Congress cannot take India forward in the 21st century.
Muslim League and Mohammed Ali Jinnah demanded the partition of British India into separate Hindu and Muslim states and after the formation of Pakistan in 1947, the League became the dominant political party of Pakistan.
The Congress manifesto was released at the party headquarters on Friday by party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Prime Minister Modi said Congress had fought for freedom and many stalwarts including Mahatma Gandhi were associated with it.
“Today the country speaks with one voice: the Congress that fought for the country’s independence ended decades ago. The Congress that remains has neither policies that are in the interest of the country nor a vision for the progress of the country,” he said.
The Congress made a slew of promises in its manifesto, including a legal guarantee for MSP, 50 percent reservation for women in government jobs, withdrawing the Agnipath programme, doubling the GDP in the next ten years, strengthening the anti-defection law, restoring the status quo ante with China, mobile phones for students of classes IX to XII and changing the GST regime.
In his address at the Saharanpur rally, Prime Minister Modi also launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over the collaboration between the two parties for the Lok Sabha polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday referred to their failed collaboration in the 2017 Assembly elections and said “do ladkon ki flop film” has been re-released.
He also slammed the INDIA alliance and said that while they are in favor of “commission”, his government is on a mission.
In his attack on the Congress, he said the party is finding it difficult to find candidates even from its strongholds and said there were instances when party candidates did not turn up to file nomination.
“This is the first election I am witnessing where the opposition is fighting not to win but to keep the BJP under 370 seats and the NDA under 400. The Samajwadi Party is in such a state that they have to change candidates every hour and for Congress it is Worse, they are not finding candidates even in their strongholds… ‘Do ladkon ki film jo pichali baar flop ho chuki hai, un do ladkon ki film ko in logon ne fir se release kiya hai,” he said .
Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav had held a roadshow in Agra in February this year, almost seven years after the Congress and Samajwadi Party won the 2017 elections in Uttar Pradesh in which they failed to do well.
Prime Minister Modi said that the BJP has won the trust of the people through its work.
“Today is the foundation day of the BJP. In just a few decades, record numbers of our countrymen have joined the BJP. The BJP has won the trust of the people, the BJP has won the hearts of the people. The biggest reason for this is that The BJP does not follow politics, it follows national policies. For the BJP, nation comes first, this is not the slogan of the BJP but our article of faith,” he said.
He also attacked the UPA rule and said the country was going through a period of despair and crisis.
“Ten years ago, I came to Saharanpur for an election rally. At that time the country was going through a period of great despair and great crisis. I guaranteed you at the time that I would not let the country bow down. had decided that with your blessings I will turn despair into hope and hope into faith. You have left no stone unturned in your blessings and Modi has left no stone unturned in his hard work,” he said.
Reminding that the BJP government is working without discrimination, he said the government has also introduced the bill to abolish triple talaq.
“Revoking Article 370 has been our mission and this mission has also been completed. The stones thrown by stone workers in Kashmir, Modi took that stone and started building Vikasit Jammu and Kashmir… Today every Indian says, ‘Niyat sahi to natije sahi’. The BJP government is working without any discrimination, we want our policies to reach everyone and for this we have worked for 10 years. Our mantra is ‘saturation’ which means people should benefit 100 percent, that is real secularism and social justice,” he said.
Referring to the Opposition parties’ allegations of misuse of investigative agencies, Prime Minister Modi said the drive “against corruption” will continue.
“The INDI alliance is for the Commission. While the NDA and the Modi government are for the mission…,” he said.
Saharanpur along with seven other seats in Uttar Pradesh will go to polls on April 19 in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Prime Minister does not know the history, Syama Prasad Mookerjee himself was part of the Muslim League government: Congress
The Congress on Saturday hit back at Narendra Modi over his comments that the party manifesto bore an imprint of the Muslim League, saying the Prime Minister “does not know his history” as none other than Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee himself was part of the side. a coalition government in Bengal with the League in the early 1940s.
The opposition party also accused the BJP of practicing “divisive politics”.
Addressing an election rally in Saharanpur, Modi said the Congress manifesto bears an imprint of the Muslim League while part of it is dominated by the Leftists.
Reacting to the Prime Minister’s comments, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The Prime Minister does not know his history as he was in fact none other than Mookerjee, the then President of the Hindu Mahasabha, who himself was part of the coalition. government in Bengal with the Muslim League.”
The Hindu Mahasabha also formed a coalition with the Muslim League in Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province.
“It is the BJP, and not the Congress, that believes in and practices the politics of division,” Ramesh said.
The Prime Minister’s attack on the Congress came a day after it released its manifesto, focusing on five ‘pillars of justice’ and 25 guarantees under them, at the party headquarters in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul. Gandhi.
The right to an apprenticeship, a legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to increase the 50 percent limit on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nationwide caste census and scrapping the Agnipath program are among the promises made the Congress has done so in its Lok Sabha poll manifesto.