Muslims are leaving Congress, and joining BJP, says Modi

New Delhi/Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that Muslims now understand that the Congress and the INDIA bloc are using them as pawns. At poll rallies in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said that under the BJP-led NDA government, the Muslim community is getting the benefits of all schemes without any discrimination, asserting that they are therefore distancing themselves from the Opposition bloc parties and are coming to the BJP.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister addressed two election rallies in Uttar Pradesh and also offered prayers at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. This was his first visit to the Ram temple after the January 22 consecration ceremony.

After offering prayers at the temple, the Prime Minister embarked on a roadshow. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the BJP's Faizabad candidate Lallu Singh accompanied him. People from different walks of life lined the road as Mr Modi's motorcade passed through.

Addressing the second rally of the day in Uttar Pradesh’s Dhaurahra, Mr Modi also said that the poor and those belonging to the SC, ST and OBC communities have come to the BJP.

"Politics of appeasement have become compulsory for the existence of 'shehzade' of the Congress and the SP," Mr Modi said in an apparent attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

"The Muslim community also understands that the Congress and the INDIA bloc have made them pawns," he said, adding that the Muslim community is also coming to the BJP after seeing the development done without any prejudice.

Hitting out at the Opposition, Mr Modi said, "Pressure was exerted on officers to grant bail for terrorists. Officers who did not do so were suspended. All this was done for appeasement, for votebank politics. The politics of appeasement have become a necessity of survival for the shehzade of the SP and the Congress."

The Prime Minister also hits out at the Congress and the INDIA bloc for their "intentions of redistributing the country’s wealth to their votebank".

Attacking the Opposition, he said they claim that if they come to power, they will revoke Article 370, end the free ration scheme, stop the free healthcare scheme for the poor and remove Vande Bharat trains. "If you come to power, will you open a hospital in the Ram Mandir? Will you bulldoze the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor?" he asked, targeting the SP-Congress alliance.

Addressing a rally in Etawah earlier in the day, Mr Modi lashed out at the "dynastic politics" of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress. He said that while the Opposition alliance partners work only to benefit their own families, he is building a better future for the nation's next generations.

"Modi and Yogi are working for the future of your children. We don't have children (of our own)," he said at the rally in Etawah, the home district of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, who died in 2022.

The Prime Minister said that he is laying the foundation to ensure that India remains a powerful nation for the next 1,000 years.

"Modi is doing this because, irrespective of whether Modi is there or not, the country will always remain and what are these SP-Congress people doing? They are fighting elections for their future and the future of their children," he said.

The Prime Minister also said that the slogans of both the SP and the Congress are "lies and their intentions are not good". "They work only to benefit their families and their votebanks," he alleged, targeting the SP and the Congress, both members of the Opposition INDIA bloc, who are contesting the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh as allies.

Sharpening his attack against the Opposition alliance partners, Mr Modi said, "What is the legacy of these dynastic people? Cars, bungalows, political influence. One considers Mainpuri, Kannauj and Etawah as his fiefdom and the other considers Amethi and Raebareli as his fiefdom."

"The legacy created by Modi is for everyone. I want that in 2047, your sons and daughters can also become the Prime Minister or the chief minister. This 'chaiwala' has broken the evil tradition that only heirs of royal families can become the PM or the CM," he said.

"Raja Ram Mohan Roy's name is evoked because he broke an evil practice; similarly, a day will come when you will say that there was a Prime Minister in the country... He was a tea seller. He broke a tradition and now even a poor man's child can become a chief minister or a Prime Minister," Mr Modi said.

He pointed out that Modi's legacy is permanent homes for the poor; millions of women in the country have got toilets; dalits and backward classes have got facilities like electricity, gas connections and tap water.

The Prime Minister also attacked the Samajwadi Party on the issue of Covid-19 vaccines, alleging that its leaders had instigated people against the vaccines but got themselves inoculated in secret. “They secretly got vaccinated and incited the public on TV and social media. Why? So that uproar spreads and sins are pinned on Modi's forehead,” he said.

Mr Modi also lashed out at the Congress’s scion for mocking his underwater prayer at Dwarka and said, “While criticising Modi, they have begun to disrespect Lord Krishna's worship. Initially, they claimed there was nothing beneath the sea in Dwarka. Now, they ridicule Lord Krishna's worship, showing no respect for our faith.”

Mr Modi also latched on to a slip of the tongue of SP leader Shivpal Yadav, saying that now Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother is appealing to vote for the BJP, "esnure the BJP wins".

In a recent election meeting at Jaswant Nagar, Shivpal Yadav, in the presence of the SP chief, goofed up by asking people to ensure that on May 7, "the BJP should win with a huge margin".

Recalling Mulayam Singh Yadav's statement, Mr Modi said, "In the last session of Parliament before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Mulayam Singh ji stood up to make a speech and said, 'you are going to win again'. It became a kind of blessing."

"Now Netaji is not among us, but see the coincidence...now his brother is appealing to ensure that the BJP wins. The words in his heart came to his tongue," he said.