Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his stand on “religion-based reservation” on May 1 and said that Congress, its “shehzada,” and I.N.D.I Alliance parties should declare that they will not resort to religion-based reservations.
Addressing a public meeting in Gujarat on May 1, PM Modi said, “This Congress ‘Jamaat’ should listen, as long as Modi is alive, there will be no reservation based on religion. Reservations for SC, ST, and OBCs have been given by the Constitution, and no one can take them away,” he added.
#WATCH | Gujarat: PM Modi addresses a public rally in Surendranagar pic.twitter.com/ntgyFo4XKy
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024
PM Modi also challenged the Congress to declare that they would not provide reservations based on religion.
“Today, I want to challenge the prince of Congress and his party to declare that if they have the courage, they will never provide reservations based on religion and will not play with the Constitution. They will not do this because “Dal mein kuch kaala hai,” he said.
PM Modi also emphasised that if he wanted to withdraw the reservation, he had the power in his second term in Parliament to do so.
“The prince of Congress proudly called the entire Modi and OBC communities thieves. No opportunity is being left to spread hatred against Gujaratis. Those who are talking about 400 seats, even today, the NDA has around 360 seats in the Parliament, and parties like BJD and YSRCP, which were not in our alliance, supported us anyway. I had a strength of 400 in Parliament. But we did not withdraw the reservation,” PM Modi said.
He alleged that the Congress wanted to loot the reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Sections and give it to Muslims.
“The reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs and economically backward of the general category will never be looted… Your (Congress) intention is to loot the reservation and give it to Muslims. I challenge the shehzada of Congress, Congress and the Jamat who support it to declare if they have courage that they will never misuse the reservation, will not play with the Constitution or give reservation on the basis of religion. Declare this if you have courage,” he said.
#WATCH | Gujarat: Addressing a public rally in Surendranagar, PM Modi says, "Congress has always been a wrong-delivery party. They were asked for Independence, but they got partition. They were supposed to give development but instead, they looted the country. The money of the… pic.twitter.com/U44GeOZgJG
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024
Accusing Congress for insulting him in the 2014 and 2019 elections, the Prime Minister added that even today, Congress has no issues, no vision, and no passion for work.
“In 2014, Congress tried to belittle me by calling me “chai wala” and doubted what I could do for the country. A kettle of tea was brought to Congress meetings, and it was said that look, Modi has come. I was made fun of. But the country gave them such an answer that the party that once used to occupy 400 seats is now being brought down to 40 only,” he said.
“In the 2019 general election, Congress said, ‘Chowkidar hi chor hai. They used to make toys for Rafale and roam around in all the meetings. This time they are roaming around with the Constitution; earlier, they used to roam around with Rafale toys. The public created such a situation that they could not even officially become the opposition. The situation has become so bad,” he added.
Prime Minister Modi said in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha on May 1 that earlier, when terrorists attacked, the weak Government used to send dossiers, but the New India today gives a dose to terrorists.
PM Modi said, “The Congress used to scare people that if the Ram Mandir is constructed, then there would be chaos in the country… There was no chaos in the country, but there was chaos in the heart of the Congress.
“They said that if Article 370 is abrogated, then the country will break and there would be rivers of blood… But this is Modi. Now Article 370 is abrogated and the Tricolour is hoisted at the Lal Chowk with full glory,” PM Modi added.
#WATCH | Gujarat: In Junagadh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "Congress says that they will reinstate Article 370 – the one that I scrapped in J&K. Those who are dancing today with Constitution on their heads, had ruled the country from Panchayat to Parliament. They had their… pic.twitter.com/IOuFRlrIdK
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on May 1 took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the opposition would take away SC/ST reservation and give it to Muslims. The RJD leader said that Prime Minister lacks knowledge and is opposing the beliefs of Bihar’s former CM Karpoori Thakur, who was recently awarded Bharat Ratna.
Speaking with the reporters, Tejashwi Yadav said, “The Prime Minister has a lack of knowledge. Recently, he gave Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur, but he is opposing his beliefs. When Karpoori Thakur became the Chief Minister for the first time, all the socially backward castes, irrespective of their religion, got reservation for the first time. Is it right to call Karpoori Thakur’s decision wrong?”
(with inputs from ANI)
