Hoshiarpur (Punjab), May 30 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress for ranting about the Constitution when it was the one that strangled it during the Emergency and not care about it when Sikhs were killed in the 1984 riots.
“Sikhs were burnt after putting tyres around them. At that time, they did not care about the Constitution,” Modi said in his last poll rally in the seven-phase election where invoked issues brought by him in meetings across the country. These included reservation, corruption and the Ram temple.
At the rally in favour of BJP’s Hoshiarpur candidate Anita Som Parkash and Anandpur Sahib nominee Subhash Sharma here, the prime minister said he has toured the entire nation and people have decided to form the Modi government for a third time.
He said the welfare of the poor is his government’s top priority and in this Guru Ravidas is a big inspiration.
Modi said after a wait of 500 years, Lord Ram’s temple was built in Ayodhya, and the airport there has been named after Maharishi Valmiki. “It is my wish that the Adampur airport should be named after Guru Ravidas,” he said, adding that the BJP is moving ahead with the concept of “virasat bhi and vikas bhi”.
The Adampur airport serves Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur and other nearby areas.
The prime minister also sharpened his attack against the INDIA bloc, accusing it of making the Army a “weapon of politics” and said there cannot be a “bigger sin than this”. The Congress and the “INDI alliance” never left any effort in weakening the armed forces, he said.
His attack came in the backdrop of the Congress and INDIA bloc members targeting the Narendra Modi government over the Agnipath scheme. The Congress has said it will scrap the Agnipath scheme if the INDIA bloc comes to power.
Modi said it was his target to make the defence forces as the most modern and capable force, self-reliant in the real sense. But this initiative blocks the ways for the “INDI alliance” to make black money and, therefore, they are taking out their anger against Modi, he said.
Hitting back at the Congress for its charge that the BJP would change the Constitution if voted to power, Modi said, “Nowadays people of the country are hearing rants from INDI alliance about the Constitution. These are the same people who strangled constitution during Emergency”.
He also charged that the intentions of the Congress and INDIA bloc over the issue of reservation are “dangerous”. “In the last 10 years, I have always protected reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs,” he said.
“Congress and INDI alliance are enraged over my efforts. Their intentions on reservation are dangerous. Their complete track record has been to snatch the reservation of SCs, STs and OBCs,” he said, adding he has always protected the reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs.
Accusing the opposition of insulting the spirit of the Constitution and sentiments of B R Ambedkar, he said they want reservation on the basis of religion in government jobs, in sports, in government tenders and admission in universities.
The prime minister charged that the opposition want to give reservation rights to Muslims after snatching it from Dalits and the downtrodden. “It is a very big conspiracy to divide the country on the basis of religion,” he alleged as he slammed the INDIA bloc.
Attacking the Congress over the issue of corruption, Modi called it “bhasrishtachar ki janni (mother of corruption)” and said the party has done a “double Ph.D in corruption”.
Training his guns at the AAP, an INDIA bloc partner and the ruling party in Punjab, Modi said now the “kattar bhrashtachari (thoroughly dishonest)” party has joined hands with the Congress.
“You see they are doing a drama of fighting against each other here (in Punjab). In Delhi, they were fighting together,” he said.
Calling the AAP a party of liars — “bhayankar jhoothwadi party’ — Modi said the AAP formed the first government in Delhi with the support of the Congress.
Alleging that the AAP has learnt lessons of indulging in corruption from the Congress, he said ‘kattar bhrashtachari’ (AAP) has taken birth from the “womb of the grand old party (Congress)”. Since its inception, the AAP has been a corrupt party, he alleged.
While the AAP claimed it would wipe out the drug menace from Punjab, they made drugs as a source of their income after forming government in the state, Modi charged.
They used to say that Punjab would be made free of drugs and made several speeches, he said, adding that a movie, “Udta Punjab”, on the drug issue was also made.
“The whole world has now come to know about the Delhi liquor scam. Here (in Punjab) illegal mining mafia is rampant. ‘Kattar bharishtachari and bhayankar jhoothvadi’ (thoroughly corrupt and biggest liars) pushed Punjab into ‘gangwar’. They have destroyed industry and farming in Punjab,” he charged.
Targeting the AAP, Modi alleged that they are becoming number one in women oppression. The world is watching their acts in Delhi and Punjab, he said.
In an apparent attack against AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Modi called his policies, slogans and intentions fake.
Modi said the politics of selfishness of the Congress and the INDIA bloc has caused losses to the country.
They continuously opposed the Ram temple and, because of appeasement politics, they are opposing the CAA (Citizenship (Amendment) Act), he said.
Modi said after decades such a time has come that a full majority government at the Centre will score a hat-trick as he invoked Guru Ravidas to say that he was the inspiration for working towards the welfare of the poor.
“Welfare of the poor is my government’s top priority. And in this big inspiration is of Guru Ravidas,” he said while noting that Hoshiarpur is called “Chotti Kashi” and is “tapobhoomi” of the guru.
“And see the coincidence, Varanasi, from where I am MP, Guru Ravidas was born there. Therefore, in this pious land of Hoshiarpur, closing of the poll campaign is a matter of pride for me,” he said.
Noting that Guru Ravidas said, “man changa to kathoti mein ganga” (if a man’s heart and intentions are pure, then everything is pure), he said, “I am dedicated to the service of the nation with full honesty and, therefore, people’s blessing are with me.” “After decades, such a time has come that a full-majority government at the Centre is going to score a hat-trick. Biggest reason for this is the dream of Viksit Bharat. Today, every Indian is aligned and connected with the Viksit Bharat dream,” he asserted.
Guru Ravidas envisioned such a society where there is no discrimination on the basis of caste, he said, adding people are getting benefits of government’s schemes without discrimination.
What the government will do in the first 125 days of the third term, how it will do it, for whom it will do it and for how long, work on this roadmap has been done, he said.
Modi said an outline has also been prepared for the big decisions to be taken in the next five years.T he government is moving ahead at a fast pace on its vision for the next 25 years, he said.
“I had said from the ramparts of the Red Fort, ‘yehi samay hai, sahi samay hai’. I am saying this again: the 21st century belongs to India,” he said.
When there is a ‘damdar’ government in the country, foreign governments also see our “dum” (might), Modi said.
And in this brave land of Punjab, who better would know the meaning of ‘damdar’, he said. ‘Damdar’ government is that which teaches lessons to the enemy and strikes inside its territory, one which makes India self-reliant and prosperous, Modi said.
In Varanasi, he referred to the developmental initiatives at Guru Ravi Das’ birthplace which include increasing facilities, having ‘langar’ hall, roads and a park built. “I am the MP from Varanasi. Whenever you visit there, you are my guests and I will spare no effort in hospitality,” Modi told the Hoshiarpur gathering. PTI SUN/CHS VSD ANB ANB
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