 "Modi, Narendra Modi, Indian PM")
Mounting a strong attack on Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the opposition party is cut off from the hopes and aspirations of today's India and its manifesto reflects the thinking that Muslim League had during the freedom movement.
In his first reaction to Congress manifesto released yesterday, PM Modi said it "completely bears the imprint of the Muslim League" and the remaining part is dominated by the Leftists.
Addressing an election rally in Saharanpur, PM Modi said people of the country feel that the Congress which fought for the country's independence was finished decades back.
"You would have seen, the way Congress released its manifesto yesterday, it proved that today's Congress is cut off from the aspirations and expectations of today's India. The manifesto released by Congress reflects the same thinking that was prevalent in the Muslim League during the freedom struggle. The Congress manifesto completely bears the imprint of the Muslim League and the little remaining part, it is dominated by the Leftists. Congress is not visible in this," PM Modi said.
He said such a Congress cannot take India forward in the 21st century.
Muslim League and Mohammed Ali Jinnah made the demand for the partition of British India into separate Hindu and Muslim states and after the formation of Pakistan in 1947, the League became Pakistan's dominant political party.
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Congress manifesto was released at the party headquarters by party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Friday.
PM Modi said Congress had fought for freedom and many stalwarts including Mahatma Gandhi were associated with it.
"Today, the country is speaking with one voice that the Congress which fought for the country's independence, that was finished decades back. The Congress that is left has neither policies for in nation's interest nor vision for country's progress," he said.
Congress made a slew of promises in its manifesto including a legal guarantee for MSP, 50 per cent reservation for women in government jobs, repealing Agnipath scheme, doubling GDP in next ten years, strengthening anti-defection law, restoring status quo ante with China, mobile phones for students from class IX to XII and amending the GST regime.
In his speech at the Saharanpur rally, PM Modi also launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over the tie-up between the two parties for the Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday referred to their unsuccessful partnership in 2017 assembly polls and said "do ladkon ki flop film" has been released again.
He also slammed the INDIA alliance and said while they are for "commission", his government is on a mission.
Attacking Congress, he said the party is finding it difficult to find candidates even from its strongholds and said there were instances where party candidates did not turn up for filing nomination.
"This is the first election I am witnessing where the opposition is contesting not to win but to contain the BJP below 370 seats and NDA 400. Samajwadi Party is in such a condition that they have to change the candidates every hour and for Congress, it is even worse, they aren't finding candidates, even at 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 tied up for the 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh in which they did not do well.
PM Modi said the BJP has won trust of people through its work.
"Today is the foundation day of BJP. In just a few decades, record numbers of our countrymen have joined the BJP. BJP has won the trust of the people, BJP has won the hearts of the people. The biggest reason for this is that the BJP does not follow politics but follows national policy. For BJP, the nation comes first, this is not BJP's slogan but our article of faith," he said.
He also attacked the UPA rule saying that the country was going through a period of despair and crisis.
"Ten years ago, I came to Saharanpur for an election meeting. At that time, the country was going through a period of great despair and great crisis. I had guaranteed you at that time that I would not let the country bow down. I had resolved that with your blessings, I will turn despair into hope, hope into faith. You left no stone unturned in your blessings and Modi left no stone unturned in his hard work," he said.
He recalled that the BJP government works without discrimination and said the government has also brought the bill to abrogate triple talaq.
"Abrogating article 370 has been our mission and this mission has also been completed. The stones thrown by stone-pelters in Kashmir, Modi took that stone and started building Vikasit Jammu and Kashmir... Today, every Indian says, 'Niyat sahi to natije sahi'. BJP government works 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 per cent, that's the real secularism and social justice," he said.
Referring to allegations of the opposition parties over the misuse of probe agencies, PM Modi said the action "against corruption" will continue.
"INDI alliance is for Commission. Whereas NDA, Modi government is for the mission...," he said.
Saharanpur along with seven other seats in Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 19.
PM doesn't know history, Syama Prasad Mookerjee himself was part of govt with Muslim League: Congress
The Congress on Saturday hit back at Narendra Modi over his remarks that the party's manifesto bore a Muslim League imprint, saying the prime minister "does not know his history" as it was none other than Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee himself who was part of a coalition government in Bengal with the League in the early 1940s.
The opposition party also accused the BJP of practising "politics of divisiveness".
Addressing an election rally in Saharanpur, Modi said the Congress manifesto bears a Muslim League imprint while a part of it is dominated by the leftists.
Reacting to the prime minister's remarks, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The prime minister does not know his history as it was, in fact, none other than Mookerjee, the president of the Hindu Mahasabha then, who was himself part of the coalition government in Bengal with the Muslim League."
The Hindu Mahasabha was also in coalition with the Muslim League in Sindh and North-West Frontier Province.
"It is the BJP, not the Congress, that believes in and practices the politics of divisiveness," 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 those, at the party headquarters in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Right to apprenticeship, a legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nationwide caste census and scrapping of the Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto.
