Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 7 said the country has reached a turning point in history and the people have to decide whether it will be run by "vote jihad" or Ram Rajya.
Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district, Mr. Modi hit out at the Opposition Congress, saying its intent is very dangerous and it calls for "vote jihad" against him. "India is at a turning point in history; you have to decide if vote jihad will work or Ram Rajya," he said.
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“INDI alliance partners are not bothered about the fate of masses...they are fighting elections to save their dynasty,” PM Modi said targeting the Opposition bloc. “For the Opposition INDIA alliance partners, their “viraasat” (dynasty) is more important than the country and they can go to any extent to save their power,” he said.
The PM asked the people whether they have heard the popular saying "Apna kaam banta..." (to be concerned only about own work), to which members of the gathering added "bhaad me jaaye janata" (not concerned about others).
"Terrorists in Pakistan are threatening jihad against India. And here, those in the Congress have also announced to do vote jihad against Modi...that means people of a particular religion are being asked to vote unitedly against Modi. Imagine what level the Congress has stooped to," he said.
The Prime Minister said the Congress had terrible intentions and its conspiracies were dangerous. "To understand this, you will have to listen to those people who have been Congress workers and leaders for 20-25 years and these people are now leaving the party," he said.
"Now listen to them, a woman said when she went to the Ram temple, she was harassed so much that she had to leave the Congress," Mr. Modi said. Another person who left the Congress said the party has been "captured by the Muslim League and Maoists," he stated.
"Another leader who left the Congress exposed another deep conspiracy, saying the shehzade (prince) of Congress intends to overturn the Supreme Court's decision on the Ram Temple like his father did in the Shah Bano case," he said.
In 1985, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Shah Bano, a Muslim woman from Indore who had sought maintenance from her husband after divorce, but the then-Congress government under PM Rajiv Gandhi overturned the judgement through an Act.
Mr. Modi alleged the Congress and the INDIA alliance neither care about our faith nor the national interest. "There is a competition among the Congress people over (making) anti-national statements," he said.
The Prime Minister said the Congress' "love for Pakistan" is reaching its peak after every phase of voting. "A former Congress CM said our Army carries out terrorist attacks, Pakistan is innocent," he pointed out.
“Look at the shamelessness of another big Congress leader, who said Pakistan had no role in the Mumbai terror attack,” he mentioned. “A leader of another Congress ally threatens India, saying Pakistan is not wearing bangles,” he further said.
"I ask the prince of the Congress, what is the intention of your colleagues who are speaking (like that)? Why so much love for Pakistan and so much hatred for our Army? That's why people say — Congress ka haath (Congress' hand)...," he said to which members of the gathering added "Pakistan ke saath" (with Pakistan).
Further targeting his political opponents, Mr. Modi said as he has exposed their agenda, they have emptied their entire "dictionary of abuses" against him.
"Your vote has made India fifth largest economy in the world, led to the abrogation of Article 370 (which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir) and made a tribal woman President of the country. Your vote has lifted 25 crore people in India out of poverty," Mr. Modi said addressing the gathering.
“Your vote has ended the wait of 500 years to make the grand temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya,” he said. “The country is marching ahead because of the efforts of the people,” Mr. Modi said.
The PM also expressed satisfaction over the pace of polling in the first two hours of the third phase of Lok Sabha elections under way on May 7. Polling in Khargone will be held in the fourth phase on May 13.
“Before reaching Khargone, PM Modi met 30 booth-level workers of the BJP at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport in Indore,” a party spokesperson said. “These included BJP workers from the polling stations in Indore district where the party had got maximum votes in the state assembly elections last year,” the spokesperson said.
Indore city BJP president Gaurav Ranadive said this time, instead of big leaders, the party's booth level workers were introduced to the Prime Minister so that they could be encouraged to facilitate increased voting percentage in the Lok Sabha elections. Notably, Congress candidate from Indore, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his nomination on April 29 and joined the BJP.
Following this, the Congress has been appealing to voters to press the NOTA (none of the above) option on the electronic voting machines "to teach the BJP a lesson". Indore will go to polls on May 13.
