They are playing a game to divide the Hindu community,” he said. “They are creating differences among the devotees of Lord Ram and Lord Shiva so that they fight with each other. Even Mughals could not break our thousands of years of traditions.
And now Congress wants to break it? How low will Congress stoop for appeasement?” Modi added. The PM also alleged that Congress, in its manifesto, has proposed a separate quota for minorities in the allocation of all government tenders.

Addressing a rally in Jamnagarin 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 Constituent Assembly did not have 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 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 as 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.