Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday issued a challenge to the Congress, daring them to restore Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, abolish the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and repeal the law banning 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.
Speaking at a rally in Junagadh, Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi emphasized that the ongoing Lok Sabha elections were not merely about personal ambitions but about fulfilling his “mission.”
“These elections are not for my ambition, as people have fulfilled that ambition in 2014. The 2024 elections are for Modi’s mission,” he stated.
Accusing the Congress of having a “dangerous mentality,” Modi claimed that its manifesto resembled that of the Muslim League.
“For Congress, this election is all about saving its existence, and the party is relying on its ‘Mazhabi vote bank’ to stay afloat,” he asserted.
Referring to the controversy surrounding the Katchatheevu island, Modi criticized the previous Congress government, stating that during their rule, the Union government had no knowledge of the exact number of islands India possessed.
“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,” he announced.
Modi also criticized the Congress for its alleged divisive politics, stating that a Congress leader had recently spoken about separating South India and forming a new nation.
“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 warned.
The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of neglecting national interests, claiming that they had given away several uninhabited islands during their tenure.
Attacking Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over a recent remark pertaining to Lord Ram and Lord Shiva, Modi claimed that the opposition party had declared this election as 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 the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Somnath Temple with this same mentality,” Modi asserted.
Regarding reservation for Muslims, Modi said that after Independence, it was decided, following careful deliberations, that religion-based quotas would not be granted.
“The Congress now wants to snatch such quotas and give them to others,” he said.
In another rally in Jamnagar, Gujarat, Modi accused the Congress of attempting to divide society on the basis of caste and appeasing its vote bank through various means.
“The Congress government in Karnataka issued a ‘fatwa’ overnight to include Muslims in the Other Backward Classes segment to give them quota benefits,” he alleged.
