The world is watching and analysing the prime minister’s statements, and they do not bring glory to India, says Congress leader P. Chidambaram
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Just a day after disavowing his anti-Muslim tirade in election rallies and iterating that he has never indulged in Hindu versus Muslim politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi again targeted the minority community at an election speech in Maharashtra’s Kalyan on Wednesday.
The prime minister accused the Congress party of having a plan to earmark a 15% budget for the community. “Congress wanted a 15% budget allocation for Muslims. Will the [separate] Hindu and Muslim budgets benefit the country? I, as Gujarat chief minister, was the first to oppose it. If Congress and the INDI alliance come to power, they will do it. Such people should not be allowed to win even one seat in Maharashtra. The fact is that in the first four phases, Maharashtra has routed the INDI alliance,” he said.
He also accused the Congress of playing the politics of Hindu-Muslim divide and reiterated his earlier claim that the grand old party maintains that Muslims have the first right over the country’s resources.
“Congress only knows Hindu-Muslim politics, and development is only for those who vote for them. When I expose them, their ecosystem screams that Modi is indulging in communal politics. History is witness to their acts. They have to open their albums to check who their grandparents are to find out who they themselves are,” Modi said.
During an interview on Tuesday, Modi claimed that he does not indulge in Hindu and Muslim politics and he will not be worthy of being in public life if he does so.
On Wednesday when Modi again attacked Muslims, political leaders and journalists reminded him of his claim of not indulging in Hindu-Muslim politics.
Senior Congress leader and former home minister P. Chidambaram described Modi’s speeches as “bizarre”.
“Hon’ble Prime Minister’s statements are increasingly bizarre and show that his speech writers have lost their balance. Yesterday, he claimed that if he played the Hindu-Muslim divide, he would not be fit to be in public life. Today, he played his usual game of dividing Hindus and Muslims,” said Chidambaram.
He also refuted the allegation that Manmohan Singh government planned to earmark a 15 percent budget for Muslims. “It is totally false,” he said.
Chidambaram said Modi’s allegation that Congress will present a Muslim budget and a Hindu budget is outrageous. “It can only be characterised as hallucination,” he said.
“Article 112 of the Constitution of India contemplates only one Annual Financial statement, which is the Union Budget. How can there be two budgets? In the remaining days of the election campaign, it is my fervent hope that the Hon’ble PM will abandon the path of false accusations and outrageous claims. Not only the Indian people, but the world is also watching and analysing the Indian prime minister’s statements, and they do not bring glory to India,” posted the Congress leader on his X handle.
Some noted journalists also took a dig at the U-turn of the prime minister. Abhishar Sharma said that Narendra Modi took a U-turn within 24 hours by making the latest statement related to Muslims.
“Oh? Another U-turn in just 24 hours? You said yesterday that you don’t indulge in Hindu and Muslim politics. If you do, then you will quit politics. You did not call Muslims infiltrators etc etc! You are back to your old ways in less than 24 hours? You are blessed Modi Ji!,” posted Sharma.
Journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani said that this was the real face of Prime Minister Modi.
“Again, he is talking about Hindu-Muslim. Sir, he could not maintain his mask even for 24 hours. The mask slipped. This is him, this is his real face. Shame on him!,” said Arfa.
In his X post in Hindi, Ajit Anjum said the one who stoked the Hindu-Muslim divide in the country claims that he does not indulge in Hindu-Muslim politics.
