Janjgir-Champa (Chhattisgarh): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "only talking about Muslims", and said the poor have more children because of their economic conditions.
PM Modi was frustrated after sensing that the opposition's INDIA bloc was heading for a majority, and hence he is now talking about "Mangalsutra and Muslims", Mr Kharge claimed at a rally in Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district.
Campaigning for Shivkumar Dahariya, Congress' candidate from Janjgir-Champa Lok Sabha constituency, he also said the BJP was seeking to win more than 400 Lok Sabha seats not for the welfare of the poor but to take away their rights.
"We are heading for a majority, that is why he (Modi) now talks about 'Mangalsutra' and Muslims. He says we will steal your wealth and give it to those who have more children. Poor people always have more children. Do only Muslims have them?" he asked.
He himself has five children but he was the only son of his parents, the Congress president said, adding that his mother, sister and uncle died when their house was set on fire.
Only his father and he were left, and "My father told me I am his only son and he wanted to see my children," Mr Kharge said.
"Poor people have (more) children as they do not have wealth. But why do you (Modi) only keep talking about Muslims? Muslims belong to this country," he said, asking people not to get misled as "we have to build the country by taking everyone together, not like them (BJP) by breaking it."
During an election rally in Rajasthan, PM Modi had said that if Congress came to power it would redistribute people's wealth to those who have more children and to the infiltrators. He had also cited former prime minister Manmohan Singh's remark that Muslims had the first claim on the country's resources.
On PM Modi's claim that Congress was planning to seize people's wealth including even women's mangalsutra, Mr Kharge asked, "We ruled the country for 55 years, but did we snatch anyone's 'mangalsutra' or misuse the ED (Enforcement Directorate), IT (Income Tax) to put people behind bars?"
The prime minister was speaking lies and misleading people, he alleged, claiming that PM Modi speaks about "Hindu-Muslim" (issues) even where Muslims have zero presence.
"Nowadays he is saying Congress wants to do an X-ray of gold in every house and land and it will not leave even your `mangalsutra'. We have said we want to conduct a caste census to assess the conditions of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward classes so that their situation can be improved, but he made fun of it," Mr Kharge said.
If such a prime minister ruled for five more years, the country would be destroyed, the Congress president said.
"He (Modi) says 'sabka sath, sabka vikas'. He takes the support of everyone but never does their 'vikas' (development). He does their 'satyanash' (destruction). He implemented demonetisation and did not support anyone during the Covid (epidemic)," Mr Kharge added.
Those who were given "injections" (apparently referring to vaccines) during the COVID-19 epidemic were still facing health problems, and laboratories have reported that heart attack cases increased in India as a result of some defect in the medicine, but the Union government does not have any answer on this issue, Mr Kharge claimed.
"This election is being fought to keep India united and save the Constitution and democracy. Modi and his followers say, again and again, give us a 400-plus figure. They are seeking 400-plus seats not for the welfare of the poor, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and backward people...They are seeking it to take away the poor people's rights," he alleged.
The Congress veteran also asked why RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had to clarify that they were not going to change the Constitution or end reservations if some BJP leader had not talked about such plans earlier.
"He (Modi) compares (himself) with former prime ministers Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Rajiv Gandhi. You do not stand anywhere in their comparison...They gave big factories and PSUs to the country, what did you give?" he asked.
Congress won freedom for the country, Jawaharlal Nehru protected its democracy and Dr B R Ambedkar drafted a good Constitution, Mr Kharge said, adding, "Modi ji, you are alive and became prime minister because of Congress which saved the Constitution, democracy and helped the poor. We introduced Green Revolution and White Revolution." Polling will be held in Janjgir-Champa on May 7.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)