I.N.D.I.A. bloc neglected India’s heritage: Modi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed the Congress for “making several bids” to stall the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and insulting Lord Rama by rejecting the invite for “pran pratishtha” ceremony in January. Addressing separate rallies in the Hindi heartland states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the Prime Minister also castigated the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty for pushing the country to backwardness.

Amid a back-to-back poll campaign schedule, Modi addressed public rallies in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh during the day and took out a road show in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in the evening.

Addressing the first election rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit, Prime Minister Modi said that the I.N.D.I.A bloc partners SP-Congress do not care about India’s heritage and alleged that the Congress made several efforts to stall the construction of the Ram temple.

“But when the people of the country made such a beautiful temple by contributing every penny, and when the temple people forgave all their (Congress) sins, and invited them for ‘pran pratishtha’, they insulted Lord Rama by rejecting the invitation and expelled leaders who attended it. I still cannot understand that there is so much venom in their mind,” Modi said.

In a veiled reference to Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who was sacked by the Congress after he criticised the party for skipping the event, Modi said, “Somebody worships Lord Rama, and he is expelled from the party, what type of party is it? Do not forget these people who had committed the sin.”

The Prime Minister, referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Shakti, said, “Today, the ‘Shakti’ which is being worshipped in the country has been insulted by the Congress. The ‘Shakti’ before which we bow our heads, the leaders of the Congress are speaking about uprooting that ‘Shakti’. No worshipper of ‘Shakti’ will forgive the I.N.D.I.A. bloc for this insult”.

The Prime Minister also said that the Congress is so immersed in the swamp of appeasement that it can never get out of it. “The manifesto prepared by the Congress seems to be that of the Muslim League rather than that of the Congress. And owing to the pressure of appeasement, the Congress and SP are opposing the CAA as well,” he said and asked many such families living in Pilibhit to apply for citizenship, and ‘guaranteed’ that they will permanently be liberated from problems.

Addressing a second rally in tribal-dominated Balaghat, Modi said that even decades after independence, Congress functioned with an old mindset. The Congress had developed an ego over its participation in the freedom movement. “Besides, the ‘offspring of a small family’ dominated the Congress party and the attitude of the dynasty has pushed the country to backwardness,” he said while referring to the Nehru-Gandhi family.

“When BJP went ahead with its plan to make a tribal woman the President of India (Draupadi Murmu), Congress tried its best to defeat her. Congress does not want to give credit for independence of the country to any tribal freedom fighter. It wants to take all the credit and give it to its ‘royal family’,” Modi said.

Later in the evening, the Prime Minister held a roadshow in Chennai’s T Nagar locality. He was joined by the party’s state unit president K. Annamalai and its candidates for South Chennai, Central Chennai and North Chennai. Tamilisai Soundararajan has been fielded from South Chennai while Vinoj P. Selvam and R.C. Paul Kanagaraj are the party’s picks from Central Chennai and North Chennai, respectively.

Standing atop a decorated car, the Prime Minister waved at his supporters who lined up on either side of the road and he also carried a small cutout of the BJP’s symbol, the Lotus.