New Delhi: Hours after the Supreme Court rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called the verdict a “tight slap” to the Congress-led Opposition. At poll rallies in Bihar, Mr Modi also accused the Congress and the RJD of disregarding the country's Constitution and democracy.
Addressing back-to-back rallies in Bihar's Araria and Munger Lok Sabha constituencies, Mr Modi once again accused the Opposition of trying to "steal" reservations meant for OBCs, SCs and STs "for the sake of their Muslim votebank".
At an election rally in Araria, Mr Modi accused the Congress and the RJD of disregarding the country's Constitution and democracy and alleged that their governments in the past had snatched people's rights and manipulated the electoral process.
“The alliance between the RJD and the Congress doesn't care about the country's Constitution or democracy. These are the people who, for decades, snatched the rights of the people under the guise of ballot paper. The people of Bihar witnessed how ballots were looted during the RJD-Congress regime and the poor were not allowed to vote,” he said.
Slamming the Opposition for opposing the EVMs, Mr Modi stated that now that the poor, the honest voters of the country, have got the power of the EVMs, they cannot tolerate it. “Every leader of the INDIA bloc has sinned creating doubt in the minds of the people regarding EVMs,” he said.
The Prime Minister lauded the Supreme Court's decision upholding the integrity of the electoral process. “Today, when the whole world praises India's democracy and its electoral process, these people (the Opposition leaders) raise questions about EVMs with malintent. They have continuously undermined democracy. But today, the Supreme Court has delivered a resounding slap to them. Every leader of the INDIA bloc should apologise to the people of the country,” he said.
Mr Modi accused the Congress and the RJD of depriving Bihar of development during their rule and highlighted the progress made under incumbent chief minister Nitish Kumar's leadership.
At Bihar rallies, the Prime Minister outlined the NDA government's priorities, including making the lives of women easier through schemes such as providing water through taps, toilets, and free electricity connections. He cautioned people against the Congress and the RJD's attempts to snatch people's rights, particularly their conspiracy to implement religion-based reservations.
Tearing into the Congress and the RJD for their appeasement politics, he highlighted instances of discrimination against Hindus for the benefit of their votebank politics. “Parties like the Congress and the RJD have sunk so deep into the quagmire of appeasement that even the Constitution doesn't hold any meaning for them,” Mr Modi said.
Claiming that the previous government headed by Manmohan Singh had given its "assent" for reservations to Muslims, the Prime Minister slammed the Congress and its "ecosystem".
“Today, another old video of Mr Singh has surfaced where he is again saying that Muslims have the first right to the country's resources. I urge the media to make people aware of this video and discuss it. The country should also know,” he said.
Mr Modi emphasised the rights of the poor, dalits, backward classes and tribals over the country's resources, refuting the Congress and the RJD's claims. He cautioned against the Congress's plan to impose a 55 per cent tax on inherited property and urged voters to support the NDA to prevent such policies.
During his second public meeting in Munger, the Prime Minister spoke about the modernisation of the Indian railways and the government's commitment to making India self-reliant in various sectors, including agriculture and textiles.
“Today the fight in Bihar is between the ‘Santushtikaran model’ of the NDA versus the ‘Tushtikaran model' of the INDIA bloc,” he said.
At the rally, Mr Modi again attacked the Congress for income and property surveys and inheritance tax, which he deemed detrimental to the people. He said: “The Congress says that they will survey the homes and land of farmers and impose an inheritance tax on you. If that happens, you will not be able to give your entire property to your children, half of it will be taken away by the Congress. The rest will be distributed as inheritance tax in their votebank.”
“The Congress wants to impose heavy taxes even on the salaries of youth, on their earnings and on the earnings of small businesses,” he said.
Talking about the RJD and the Congress alliance, Mr Modi said, "Today, when I proudly proclaim in front of the whole world that India is the mother of democracy, these RJD-Congress-Left people make fun of it. This mockery is not just of Modi but of the democratic history of Bihar. In the past 10 years, we have established our heritage and our legacy on the global stage. These people, surrounded by the mentality of servitude, cannot change this new India, even if they want to."
