PM Narendra Modi says Congress’s heart has no space for Dalits, OBCs
An all-out battle between BJP and Congress raged through Thursday, before campaigning for the high-stake May 12 Karnataka’s state election drew to a close.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Congress and said there is no place for Dalits and backward classes in its heart. He was interacting with SC, ST, OBC and Slum Morcha workers of BJP’s Karnataka unit through his App.
He said BJP has most number of SC, ST, OBC and minority MPs. Congress never respected Baba Saheb Ambedkar, and till the party was in power, it did not give him Bharat Ratna, the PM said.
He said Congress was in a hurry to defeat Baba Saheb in elections, but Shyama Prasad Mukherjee sent him to Parliament. Let Congress show at least one thing it did to honour Baba Saheb, the PM said.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that his mother Sonia Gandhi was more Indian than many he has met, and claimed Modi was trying to distract people by making personal attacks.
“He has anger within him. He feels threatened by me… I have learnt to deal with him. When he can’t respond, he distracts,” Rahul said. He also said Modi’s foreign policy is dangerous, and attacked him for not facing a press conference in his four-year tenure.
BJP has often targeted Sonia for her Italian roots and even Modi dared Rahul on May 1 to talk for 15 minutes in any language, including his “mother’s mother tongue”. Modi has also called him a naamdar (dynast).
Rahul said, “My mother is Italian. She has also lived the larger part of her life in India. My mother has sacrificed and suffered for this country. It shows the quality of the PM when he makes these comments.”
The 47-year-old said the election was about Karnataka. “Narendra Modi likes to distract people. This election is nothing to do with Rahul Gandhi. He has nothing to say about Karnataka’s future,” he said.
He said that the PM was was mum on BJP’s plans for development, farmers and youngsters to whom he had promised jobs.
“Modi has anger inside him. He has anger for everybody, not just me. I attract that anger because he sees a threat in me. His anger is his problem, it is not my problem. My problem is how to help the people of this country,” Rahul said.
He said it is disrespectful to have the type of discussions Modi is having in elections. Rahul was responding to Modi’s scathing attack on him after he declared his prime ministerial ambitions.
He accused RSS of trying to crush the spirit of the people of Karnataka and said Congress will not allow it to happen. Rahul also said he is confident of Congress’ victory in Karnataka where results will be announced on May 15.
He said the PM was silent on incidents of killings and attacks on Dalits.
Rahul said Modi did not raise Chinese incursions at Doklam during his meeting with President Xi Jinping and had a “discussion without an agenda.” “Our foreign policy has been completely decimated… It is because the Prime Minister views foreign policy as an individual exercise.”
“I am very passionate about this China issue. The central challenge is jobs to our youngsters. China is a competitor, it’s also a rising power,” he said, adding that “fundamental blunders are being made in our foreign policy, which is dangerous to the country.”
