Day After Big Haryana Win, PM Targets Congress With Eye On Maharashtra

Prime Minister Narendra Modi - fresh from celebrating a comeback win in the Haryana election Tuesday evening - was back firing barbs at the Congress this morning, accusing his rival of being an "irresponsible party" and labelling it a "factory to spread hatred". The Congress, he raged, wants to "create fear among Muslims" so it gets minority community votes. "BJP has won the Haryana election... but in Maharashtra we have to get a bigger victory," the PM declared as he launched his party's next poll campaign.

The BJP's "historic" win - it became the first party to win three consecutive terms in the heartland state - "shows the mood of the country", he said as he inaugurated infra projects in poll-bound Maharashtra, where his party is allied with factions of the Shiv Sena and NCP.

"The Congress is doing politics of hatred... Congress is bent on destroying the country. We all have to be aware and cautious. I am sure the people of Maharashtra will give a befitting reply to all forces bent on destroying the society," Mr Modi said via a video link.

"I am sure the people of Maharashtra will unite and vote for the BJP and the Mahayuti government (referring to the BJP-Sena-NCP trio headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde)."

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Maharashtra (and Jharkhand) are scheduled to hold state elections this year. 

In the former the Congress' poor showing in Haryana has invited scathing criticism from the Shiv Sena faction led by ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is expected to sit down to discuss seat-sharing with its two allies - the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP.

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The Congress' Haryana and J&K results will not go down well in these talks.

Meanwhile, the PM also attacked the Congress for trying to "spread lies among the Dalits", criticising the party for looking to "snatch reservation from them (the Dalits) and distribute them to their vote bank".

"Entire ecosystem of Congress is about misleading the public. They tried to spread lies among Dalits but Dalits realised Congress will snatch reservations from them and distribute them to their vote bank. So Haryana Dalit community gave record support to BJP..."

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The PM has frequently lashed out at the Congress on this issue - particularly in the run-up to the general election earlier this year - alleging it plans to tinker with existing quotas to benefit Muslims.

The Congress has just as frequently denied the allegation.

The Congress' manifesto for the Lok Sabha election guaranteed increased reservation for marginalised groups, including Dalits, past the Supreme Court's 50 per cent cap.

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That guarantee was slammed by the BJP as an "imprint of the Muslim League".

In his speech the Prime Minister also accused the Congress of having "instigated" the farmers of Haryana, who joined their brethren from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and other states in their lakhs to protest against the centre's farms laws and insist on legal backing for MSPs.

"Farmers of Haryana are happy with farmer-friendly schemes of BJP. Congress also tried to instigate youth. They all trust the BJP for a bright future... Haryana has shown they will not fall prey to the hatred conspiracies of the Congress and its urban Naxal allies..." the PM said.

With input from agencies

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