Speaking at an election rally in Udhampur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the day is near when the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have its Assembly elections and attain full statehood.
At a separate public meeting in Rajasthan’s Barmer, the Prime Minister emphasised his government’s respect for India’s Constitution, noting that even BR Ambedkar, regarded as the architect of the Constitution, would find it impossible to abolish it now if he was alive.
The PM said there is a growing sentiment across the country that the NDA will secure over 400 seats on June 4, echoing the slogan “4 June 400 Paar”, since the Congress and the opposition didn’t allow him to work and Parliament to function in the past ten years and the people had now resolved to hold them accountable.
At his Udhampur rally, the PM said neither the country’s laws nor his administration prohibited people from taking vegetarian or non-vegetarian food. But he criticised those who posted videos of themselves eating meat during Navaratras, suggesting that it reflected their Mughal-inspired mindset.
Modi didn’t name either Congress leader Rahul Gandhi or Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Lalu Prasad or his son, former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, but said that people posting such videos were “deliberately trying to hurt people’s faith and beliefs”.
“Everyone is free to eat vegetarian or non-vegetarian food. But they had different intentions. The Mughals weren’t satisfied by merely defeating kings but also vandalised temples. They used to derive pleasure out of it. Likewise, these (opposition leaders) tease the people of the country by releasing such videos in the month of Sawan and consolidate their vote banks,” the Prime Minister alleged, terming such videos as efforts in appeasement. The PM’s references were pointed to a recent video posted by Tejashwi Yadav of eating fish, which he said was filmed before the Navaratras and last year’s video of Rahul Gandhi visiting Lalu Prasad’s residence to cook meat during monsoon.
In his public meetings, the PM said he worked “24×7 for 2047” to fulfil ‘Modi’s guarantees’ to make India a developed country. In Barmer, Modi accused the Congress of discriminating against Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, for now awarding Ambedkar Bharat Ratna, imposed Emergency to curtail the Constitution, but taking cover of the Constitution today to abuse Modi.
“The INDI alliance is telling lies in the name of the Constitution,” he said. The PM recounted his government’s efforts to honour Ambedkar and the Constitution. “As far as the Constitution is concerned, even if Babasaheb Ambedkar himself comes, he cannot abolish that document. The Constitution is Geeta, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bible and Quran for the government. For us, the Constitution is everything,” Modi said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi last month alleged that the “ultimate goal of Narendra Modi and the BJP is to destroy Babasaheb’s Constitution” after BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde said the party needed a two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha to amend the Constitution. The BJP dubbed Hegde’s remarks ‘personal opinion’ and sought clarification from him. Hegde, an MP from Karnataka’s Uttar Kannada, has been denied a BJP ticket to defend his seat.
Referring to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) manifesto, he said a party in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has called for nuclear disarmament. “What kind of alliance is this that wants to make India powerless?” he asked. Modi also said that the Congress boycotted the Ram temple consecration ceremony on January 22. He said the Congress protects those who throw stones at Ram Navami processions in Rajasthan.
First Published: Apr 12 2024 | 9:22 PM IST
