New Delhi, Apr 26: The Congress on Friday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief J P Nadda are resorting to polarisation as they are afraid they are going to lose this Lok Sabha election.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh claimed that Nadda had presented former prime minister Manmohan Singh's comments in a wrong context only to polarise the election.
The party's reaction came after Nadda alleged that the Congress intends to snatch the rights of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to benefit Muslims.
The BJP chief also cited then-prime minister Manmohan Singh's 2006 statement in which he had reportedly said that minorities, especially Muslims, have the first right on the country's resources.
“J P Nadda's allegations are based on lies. It seems that Nadda is following Prime Minister Modi and has turned to ‘falsehood',” Ramesh said.
“The real thing is that the BJP is in panic. The prime minister and the BJP president know that their party is wiped out in the South and is halved in the North. They fear that they are losing this election and scared of it, their only strategy is polarisation, polarisation and polarisation,” he said in a statement posted on ‘X'.
Ramesh also said that the BJP chief has misrepresented the speech given by Manmohan Singh at a National Development Council meeting on December 9, 2006.
He also cited former PM Manmohan Singh's statement and his won response to it, and said Modi and Nadda are now using out of context.
The Congress general secretary said it could be seen from the statement that the then-prime minister's reference to “first right on resources” referred to all the “priority” areas listed, including SCs, STs, OBCs, women, children and the programmes for the upliftment of minorities are included.
Congress media department head Pawan Khera cited the recent statements of Modi and said that the prime minister of the country should not use such language.
“The prime minister is telling fabricated stories, telling lies… he should have at least read our manifesto…
“The job of a prime minister is not to make the society fight among itself. Elections keep coming and going… but in the meantime, if INDIA (opposition alliance) loses, the Constitution loses, communal harmony loses and it will not be tolerated,” he told reporters.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Modi, the Congress leader said, “Heartfelt thanks to Narendra Modi ji for the way he publicised the Congress manifesto and took it to every home. We did not have enough money to promote our manifesto. Wherever Modi ji goes to campaign, he increases the seats of the Congress, we hope you will do the same in the next five phases too.”
He claimed that the Congress has got full support from the public in the second phase too and Rahul Gandhi is going to win from Wayanad with a record number of votes.
“Wayanad is a very important seat among the seats where voting took place today. Our popular leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting the election from there. Last time, he won by more than four lakh votes. This time he will break all records of victory,” the Congress leader claimed.
Continuing with the BJP's attempts to project the Congress as a party championing the interests of Muslims at the cost of traditionally deprived Hindu groups, Nadda said the opposition party has long been making the grounds for the minority community to be declared as SCs and give them reservation.
He issued a video statement as the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls got underway.
Nadda cited the then prime minister Manmohan Singh's 2006 statement of minorities, especially Muslims, having the first rights on the country's resources and added that he made similar comments in April 2009.
The BJP chief said the Congress has in some states tried to provide reservation to Muslims, including in Karnataka.
He said the Congress in its 2009 election manifesto had promised reservation to Muslims in educational institutions and jobs through a sub-quota in the Other Backward Classes category.
The BJP president also claimed that the Congress' stand against majoritarianism in its 2024 poll manifesto underscores its “hate” for the SCs, STs and the OBCs as they make up for a majority in the society.
The party has this old habit of robbing the SCs, STs and OBCs of their rights, he said, citing B R Ambedkar's criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru for not speaking about the welfare of Dalits in speeches.
