I’ve Buried Article 370, It Is Gone; PM Modi Dares Congress To Restore It
Press Trust Of India
Junagadh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday challenged the Congress to restore Article 370 in Jammu-Kashmir, abolish the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the law that bans triple talaq.
“I have buried Article 370. It is gone now. I want to challenge the Congress’ royal family and its ‘shehzada’ (a jibe at the Gandhi family and Rahul Gandhi) that if it is your hidden agenda, then come out in the open and tell people you will restore Article 370,” he said.
Modi said the ongoing Lok Sabha elections were not for satisfying his personal ambitions, but for fulfilling his “mission.”
A strong and stable government was important not only for the country but also for the world, he said at a poll rally in Junagadh in Gujarat.
“These elections are not for my ambition, as people have fulfilled that ambition in 2014. The 2024 elections are for Modi’s mission,” the PM said.
Accusing the opposition Congress of having a “dangerous mentality”, Modi said its manifesto is written in the language of Muslim League.
For Congress, this election was all about saving its existence and the party was taking help of its “Mazhabi vote bank” to stay afloat, the prime minister claimed.
“I want to see how much courage they (Congress) have to insult the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar. You (Congress) will fail because this (standing in your way) is Modi,” the PM asserted.
Referring to the controversy surrounding Katchatheevu island, he said during Congress rule, the Union government had no idea about the exact number of islands India had.
“I then got a satellite survey done and found that we have 1,300 islands. Some of them are as big as Singapore. We will develop some of them for tourism purposes,” said Modi.
A Congress leader had recently spoken about separating south India and forming a new nation, while those in the opposition INDI alliance also make statements on similar lines, he said.
“Congress leaders have inherited this mentality of partition. It was the Congress which accepted the country’s partition for the sake of power,” he said.
The Congress had gifted Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka nearly 30 years ago as it was their personal property, he said.
“If Sardar Patel was not present, Junagadh would have gone to Pakistan. The Congress will create a dangerous situation for the country if it comes to power. They may give away the Kutch desert claiming no one lives there,” he said.
The Congress just does not care and had given away several uninhabited islands, the PM pointed out, adding “if given a free hand” that party will “sell off the Himalayan peaks”.
Attacking Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over a recent remark pertaining to Lord Ram and Lord Shiva, the PM said the opposition party had declared this election is a fight against Lord Ram.
“The Congress president said his objective was to defeat Lord Ram and that Lord Shiva will defeat Lord Ram. What are they thinking? The Mughals destroyed Ram Temple in Ayodhya and Somnath Temple with this same mentality,” the PM asserted.
Speaking about reservation for Muslims, Modi said after Independence it was decided following careful deliberations that religion-based quotas would not be given.
“Those deliberations went on for months. And no BJP or RSS leader was in the picture. Learned Congress leaders as well as Babasaheb Ambedkar took part in the discussion. After deliberations, they decided reservation will not be granted on the basis of religion,” he said.
The Congress now wants to snatch such quota and give it to others, Modi said.
‘Congress Speaks Language of Muslim League’
Modi said the Congress was fighting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with the twin strategy of dividing society in the name of caste and uniting its vote bank through appeasement.
Addressing a rally in Jamnagar in Gujarat, the PM said the Congress government in Karnataka issued a “fatwa” overnight to include Muslims in the Other Backward Classes segment to give them quota benefits.
“The Congress is contesting elections on two strategies. The first is to divide society in the name of caste and the second is unite its vote bank through appeasement,” Modi said.
He further said the Congress planned to change the Constitution to give reservation on the basis of religion.
This is why the Congress party spread an “absolute rumour” regarding (curtailing of) reservations to Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs and tried to make it an election agenda, the PM said.
The Congress is trying to take away reservations of SCs, STs and OBCs and give these benefits to Muslims.
In Karnataka, 27 per cent OBC quota was “looted overnight” by the Congress to appease its vote bank, whereas those who drafted the Constitution were clear that religion-based quota could not be provided, the PM said.
“The Constituent Assembly did not have leaders from BJP, RSS. Scholars like Babasaheb Ambedkar were present and after detailed discussions they decided that reservation cannot be given in the name of religion as it would create a grave danger for the country,” he said.
“The poison sprayed by Congress has gone very high and I don’t know to what places it will spread by end of this election,” the PM said, adding the opposition party’s leaders were at the forefront of supporting “terrorists” and were now calling for “vote jihad”.
The then prime minster served as the guest of Kashmiri separatists and Congress leaders came forward to save Ajmal Kasab, the lone gunman arrested after the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, Modi said.
“Books were written to save jihadis of the Mumbai terror attack and a Congress leader released (one such) book. In Delhi, when terrorists were killed at Batla House, the ‘madam’ of the Congress could not stop tears. When Afzal Guru was sentenced to hang, people from this ecosystem reached the Supreme Court and the President,” the PM said.
These people are now calling for “vote jihad” (religion based voting to stop the BJP), he pointed out.
Slamming the Congress’ manifesto, Modi said it was a sign of danger for the country.
“INDI alliance leaders are asking Muslim voters to go for vote jihad. It is not something being uttered by a child studying in a madrassa but by Congress leaders who come from highly educated families,” the PM said.
“”The kind of language that the Muslim League used, the narrative on which the country was divided are unfortunately the same on the basis of which they are seeking votes,” he said.
The Congress leaves no opportunity to mock “our faith” but would it dare to make fun of anything related to other religions, the PM asked.
“They boycott the Ram Temple, they call Dwarka a lie. They say we will make Lord Shiva and Lord Ram fight and ensure Ram’s defeat. The ‘shehzada’ of the Congress even ridiculed my offering prayers in submerged Dwarka. Therefore, I say we should be careful of the Congress,” the PM said.
The Congress’ politics started with false propaganda and has now fallen into despair, Modi said.
“The Congress has the same frustration and hatred towards the country’s development that it once had for Gujarat. While India’s stature is rising across the world, the shehzada of the Congress and his ecosystem go abroad and defame our country with long lectures,” the PM said in a swipe at Rahul Gandhi.
When the Congress-led UPA was unseated in 2014, the country’s economy was the 11th largest in the world, whereas India was ranked 6th when it gained Independence, the PM pointed out.
“They were intellectuals. However, then came a chaiwala who had Gujarati blood and the economy rose to 5th rank,” the PM said, adding he did not seek people’s blessings for power, prestige and position but to fulfil the pledge of making India the third largest economy.
“You can imagine how much the world’s attitude will change towards India when we achieve third rank. India will be self-reliant and will not have to spread its hand before the world for anything. I need blessings to make such an India,” Modi asserted.
Slamming the Congress’ “scholars” for claiming that the country’s economy would achieve third rank by itself and for stating that poverty can be removed in an instant, Modi said these persons had never thought about facing and overcoming challenges and solving problems.
“When the intentions are clean, the results are grand,” the PM emphasised.
Modi said he has three challenges for the Congress, and these are, firstly, giving in writing whether it would provide religion-based quota to Muslims by changing the Constitution, secondly, not taking away reservation benefits of Dalits, tribals and OBCs, and thirdly, that its state governments will not run a hidden agenda of including Muslims in the OBC segment.
“Will Modi stay silent when the country is facing such dangers? Will he ever allow the country to be divided? As long as Modi is alive, he will not allow the country to be divided again in the name of religion,” he asserted.
The Congress’ leaders, instead of responding (to such challenges) are misleading the public, he added.
Voting on 25 of Gujarat’s 26 Lok Sabha seats will take place on May 7. The BJP has won the Surat seat unopposed.
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