Deesa: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday challenged the Congress party to give it in writing that they will not offer reservations based on religion and pledge that they will not tamper with the Constitution.
Addressing an election rally at Deesa town of Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, Modi said, “This is my challenge to the Congress Shehzada (referring to Rahul Gandhi), his party, and its supporters. If they have the courage, let them announce that they will never misuse reservations in the name of religion. They should pledge not to tamper with the Constitution or offer reservations based on religion.”
He further said that as long as he and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were around, reservation in jobs and education granted to SCs/STs/OBCs, and economically weaker sections as per the Constitution will be safeguarded.
“Let the Congress give in writing that they will refrain from providing reservations based on religion. The Congress and its supporters should heed my message clearly for as long as I’m alive, I won’t allow the manipulation of reservations in the name of the Constitution,” he said.
“You (Congress) aim to deprive those allocated reservations meant for SC, ST, OBC, and economically disadvantaged individuals, and instead, redistribute them to Muslims based solely on their religion,” he said.
“In Andhra Pradesh, they’ve already experimented with this approach, and now they’re attempting it in Karnataka as well. Their focus on vote bank politics led them to attempt to take away reservations meant for Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs. In Karnataka, they’ve declared Muslims as OBCs, thereby depriving those who were previously categorized as OBCs of their reservation benefits,” Modi said.
“Recently one of their (Congress’) overseas leader (Sam Pitroda) suggested a proposal where more than half of your inheritance will be taken away from you and given to the government. A 55% (inheritance) tax will be imposed. For example, if you have 10 acres of land and you want to leave it behind for your children, then 5 acres of land will go to the government. Similarly, if you have two buffaloes and want to leave them for your children, one will be taken away by the government,” he added.
Further targeting the Congress, Modi said, “Even today the Congress neither has issues nor the passion to work for the people. Do you remember what sort of issues Congress raised in 2014? They said what will a Chaiwala do? But the country responded to them… Those who once occupied 400 seats were reduced to 40,” he said.
He also accused the Congress of spreading fake videos and misinformation.
“The party which ruled the country for 60 years has become a fake factory. What they called ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukan’ is a fake factory. The Congress’ videos are fake, the Congress’ words are fake, the Congress’ promises are fake, the Congress’ slogans are fake, and the intentions of the Congress are fake,” Modi said.
“The BJP won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat in 2014 and 2019. “This time it’s not only the 26 seats that we want to win. We want to win all the polling booths in Gujarat,” Modi said.
“You need 272 seats MPs to form the government. In this election, except BJP no other party has fielded 272 candidates. You want to form the government and don’t have candidates to even fight the elections?” he said.
On May 1, the Prime Minister embarked on a two-day visit to his home state of Gujarat. During this visit, he is scheduled to address six public gatherings, encompassing 11 Lok Sabha constituencies. After addressing a rally in Deesa within the Banaskantha constituency, Modi proceeded to address another gathering in Himmatnagar, located in Sabarkantha, on May 1, coinciding with the state’s Foundation Day.
On May 2, Modi is slated to address rallies in Anand, Wadhwan in Surendranagar, Junagadh, and Jamnagar. Throughout these events, Modi will campaign for the Lok Sabha seats of Anand, Kheda, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Amreli, and Jamnagar.
Voting for all 25 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will be held on May 7 in the third phase. BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed in Surat. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
