Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the BJP had made the mistake of coining the 'India Shining' slogan and lost the 2004 elections as he predicted the same fate for the opposition INDIA alliance in 2024.
Addressing a public meeting before flagging off BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Neemuch, Mr Singh said Congress should either snap ties with its ally DMK over Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's comments on Sanatana Dharma or apologise to people for his remark.
He also took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the south pole of the Moon, but "Rahulyaan" could neither be launched nor landed.
“After 28 parties joined and formed an alliance called INDIA, 38 parties have come with BJP due to its charisma. Do you all like India or Bharat?" he asked the audience.
"We, during the prime ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had made a mistake by coining the 'India Shining' slogan but lost the (2004) polls. We realized our mistake. The INDIA bloc would meet the same fate....It will be demolished in (general) elections (in 2024),” the veteran BJP leader said.
The Jan Ashirwad Yatras aim to reach out to the masses highlighting the achievements of the state government ahead of the Madhya Pradesh polls, which are due later this year. The first Yatra was launched by BJP president JP Nadda in Chitrakoot in the state on Sunday.
“At a time when we have made successful strides to the Moon and the Sun and launched Chandrayaan 3 in the south pole of the Moon...the Congress has failed to launch 'Rahulyaan' in the last 20 years,” Mr Singh said.
Referring to Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks that "Sanatan Dharma was against equality and social justice, and it should be eradicated", Singh said the DMK, a constituent of the INDIA grouping, has hurt sentiments.
"The Congress should snap ties with DMK or apologise for Stalin's remark," Mr Singh said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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