“I had told in Parliament that many big Congress leaders will run away from Lok Sabha elections and barge into Rajya Sabha. That is what has exactly happened. They gave up what they thought is their inheritance right and ran away,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, in an oblique referrance to All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge, at an election rally in Hosapete on Sunday.
After Mr. Modi’s comments in Lok Sabha, Mr. Kharge was defeated in 2019 Lok Sabha elections on his home turf, Kalaburagi. He was later elected to the Rajya Sabha and then, elected as the Leader of Opposition in the Upper House.
Mr. Modi also said that the Congress and its allies have rejected the invitation to the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and called upon the people to reject them in the elections.
“Ram Mandir Trust members met the leaders of the Congress and its allies and requested them to attend the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. However, these leaders rejected it. It is an insult to Lord Ram. It is an insult to the 500-year-old struggle for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya,” he said.
“You must reject those people who rejected the invitation to a holy task. The Congress had said that the country will be on fire if the Ram Mandir is ever built. Nothing of the sort happened after we built the temple,” Mr. Modi said.
Dangerous organisation
Terming the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) a dangerous organisation, Mr. Modi said that the Congress had joined hands with it just to win the elections.
“We had decided to take on PFI, a dangerous organisation. We had decided not to allow it to kill innocent people. With a lot of courage, we banned it. Many of its leaders are now behind bars. However, the Congress is conspiring with it to destroy the country,” Mr. Modi said.
Criticising the Congress for its stand on the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, Mr. Modi said that Kashmir is on the path of development after the historic decision.
“Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Constitution was not in force in Kashmir. The region had a different Constitution. The Dalits in Kashmir did not enjoy reservation rights. We removed Article 370 to end all this. After the abrogation of Article 370, people from all over the world are visiting Kashmir in big numbers,” Mr. Modi said.
BJP candidates, B. Sriramulu in Ballari and Basavaraj Kyavater in Koppal, alliance partner and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and others were present.
