Wealth redistribution to Muslim quota, ‘mangalsutra’ to ‘Congress ki loot’: How Modi tore into party ahead of 2nd phase of polls

With just two days left for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, the country has witnessed intense and high-octane campaigns by political parties, especially the BJP, spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

PM Modi has been in “attack mode”, targeting the opposition Congress more than ever over its leaders and its previous reign. Here we take a look at how Modi led several campaign rallies in the run-up to the second phase.

PM Modi’s ‘Muslim-wealth redistribution remarks’

It began Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, targeting the opposition party, said the Congress, if voted to power, could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.

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Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara, he said, “Pehle jab unki sarkar thi, unhone kaha tha ki desh ki sampati par pehla adhikar Musalmano ka hai. Iska matlab, ye sampati ikatthi karke kisko baatenge? Jinke zyada bacche hain, unko baatenge, ghuspaithiyon ko baatenge. Kya aapki mehnat ki kamayi ka paisa ghuspaithiyon ko diya jayega? Aapko manzoor hai yeh? (Earlier, when they (the Congress) were in power, they had said Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators? Do you agree to this)?”

“Ye Congress ka manifesto keh raha hai, ki woh mataon aur beheno ke sone ka hisaab karenge, uski jarthi karenge, jaanakari lenge aur phir woh sampati ko baant denge. Aur unko baatenge, jinko Manmohan Singh ji ki sarkar ne kaha tha ki sampati par pehla adhikar Musalmanon ka hai. Bhaiyon aur behno, yeh Urban Naxal ki soch, meri mataon, behno, aapka mangal sutra bhi bachne nahi denge (Congress’s manifesto says they will take stock of the gold mothers and daughters have, and will distribute that wealth. Manmohan Singh’s government had said Muslims have the first right to wealth. Brothers and sisters, this Urban Naxal thinking will not spare even the mangal sutras of my mothers and sisters),” he said.

Modi was referring to former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks at a meeting of the National Development Council in December 2006, wherein he flagged the need for judicious use of resources. “…We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources,” Singh had said.

PM’s ‘Muslim quota’ remarks

On Tuesday, in another rally Rajasthan — this time in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur Lok Sabha constituency — PM Modi minced no words in attacking the Congress once again with a reference to the Muslim community. He said the Congress has often tried to give reservation to Muslims by reducing the reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs, and that it “did not care” about the Constitution.

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“The truth is that when Congress and INDI alliance was in power, these people broke into the reservation of Dalits and the backward for vote bank politics and wanted to give reservation to their specific people (khaas jamaat) separately. While the Constitution is absolutely against this.”

“The right to reservation provided by Babasaheb Ambedkar to Dalits, backwards and Adivasis — Congress and INDI alliance wanted to give it to Muslims on the basis of religion,” he said.

PM Modi turns Sam Pitroda remarks into ammo

The latest in the string of attacks on the grand old party is Prime Minister Modi’s use of Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s “US inheritance tax” remark as ammunition to tear into the party.

At a rally in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja on Wednesday, Modi said, “The royal family prince’s advisor, and the royal family prince’s father’s advisor, had said that more taxes should be imposed on the middle class. Now these people have gone a step further. The Congress now says that it will impose an ‘Inheritance Tax’. That it will impose tax on the inheritance received from parents. The property you have accumulated through your hard work will not be given to your children. The claws of Congress will snatch that too from you. The Congress mantra is: Congress ki loot, zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi. As long as you are alive, Congress will impose higher taxes, and when you are no longer alive, it will burden you with inheritance tax. Those who considered the entire Congress party as their ancestral property and handed it over to their children don’t want Indians to pass on their property to their children.”

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The comments came shortly after an interview came to light of Pitroda, chairman of Indian Overseas Congress, wherein he said that the inheritance tax in America was an interesting law and could be issues that people could debate and discuss.

While Pitroda himself issued a clarification saying that his statements were twisted and had nothing to do with the Congress party or their manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, other party leaders, from Pawan Khera to Jairam Ramesh, also attempted to explain Pitroda’s comments.

The Opposition’s reaction

The Prime Minister’s remarks have not gone down well with some former allies of the BJP as well as the opposition parties.

While former BJP ally AIADMK took objection to Modi’s remarks with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami criticising the PM for “speaking controversially about Muslim people”, the Shiromani Akali Dal, another ex-ally, termed it “venom and hate at another level.”

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Opposition parties — Congress, SP and National Conference — hit out at Modi over his remarks.

While Congress leader P Chidambaram challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders to quote a single para in the Congress manifesto which reflects “appeasement”, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, in an obvious reference to the PM’s speech in which he said the Congress wants to redistribute people’s property, said the trends of election results are visible from the BJP leaders’ speeches. Launching a vitriolic attack on Modi, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said “our religion does not tell us to look down at other religions.”

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday challenged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to make his stand clear on the PM’s “controversial” remarks against Muslims. Addressing an election rally in Kishanganj, Owaisi asked, “What has happened to Nitish Kumar? He has not spoken a word on Narendra Modi’s utterances? Has he turned dumb?…”

Talking to the media, Owaisi warned “Muslims are the largest minority community in the country. They have a population of nearly 17 crore. Narendra Modi is spreading hatred against them. He has been doing so since 2002 (when communal violence broke out in Gujarat, under Modi’s Chief Ministership). If there are fresh riots in the country, Modi shall be squarely responsible”.

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi took strong objection to Modi’s “mangalsutra and gold” remarks, saying her mother Sonia Gandhi’s “mangalsutra” was sacrificed for the sake of the country. At poll rallies in Chitradurga and Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituencies, where voting is scheduled on April 26, Priyanka accused Modi of making provocative statements whenever elections come to distract people.

“In the past two days, the PM says that the Congress party will rob your gold and mangalsutra. For 70 years, India has been independent, for 55 years Congress ruled the country, did they take your gold away?” she asked.

“When there was a war my grandmother (former PM Indira Gandhi) donated her gold to the country. My mother’s mangalsutra was sacrificed for this country,” Priyanka said, referring to the assassination of her father, former PM Rajiv Gandhi.