New Delhi: Narendra Modi campaigned today for the first time after his outing in Telangana on Wednesday when he levelled serious allegations against “Adani-Ambani” for sending black money to Congress by night, in “tempos.” The Houses of Adani and Ambani both have yet to issue any statement.
Modi too went a whole day on Thursday without saying anything.
Today, on May 10, Friday, Ambani-Adani have gone missing from Modi’s public rallies.
In Nandurbar, Maharashtra, his first rally in the morning, he spent time in anti-Congress tirades, saying they were “anti-Hindu.”
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
He said, “When I go to the temple, even Congress calls it anti-India. Look at the mindset of Congress. They call the Ram temple in Ram’s own country anti-national. Those who do government sponsored iftaris for appeasement. Those who beautify the graves of terrorists. They call me anti-national for going to my Ram temple. The INDI alliance is attacking not me, but your faith. The Congress party is conspiring to erase Hindu faith from the country.”
PM Modi then spoke of the “fake Shiv Sena’s intentions and moves towards misleading people,” as per his website, www.narendramodi.in, as saying, “I feel sad many times thinking about how much Balasaheb Thackeray would be suffering. Now these fake Shiv Sena people have started taking even the culprits of bomb blasts in their campaign. So, it’s not a big deal that they dream of burying me alive. These people have lost the support and trust of the public, their political ground has slipped away.”
When he last called Shiv Sena (UBT) nakli or fake, Uddhav Thackeray in a speech following that remark came down heavily on him saying “I am not nakli, but it was a statement of a be–aqli”. A combative Thackeray deemed it an insult to his mother that Modi had suggested that he was not Balasaheb’s rightful successor.
Congress leader and MP, Rahul Gandhi, refuted the charge by Modi on Wednesday that he had stopped speaking about Adani-Ambani and in an open challenge on video said he will transfer as much money to the ordinary people of India, that the BJP had gifted to its crony industrialist friends.
In Telangana’s Mehbubnagar on Friday after Nandurbar, Modi continued to play up the misinformation he has been relaying on the Congress’s manifesto, saying “Congress is engaged in dividing the country based on religion and caste. Congress’s real agenda is to appease certain communities for political gains, without considering the welfare of the nation.”
Trying to fight the perception firmly gaining ground that BJP with a large mandate will do away with reservation rights of Tribals and Backwards Classes (BC), Modi said, “Congress is trying to give reservation based on religion to Muslims instead of SC, ST, BC. People of Telangana know very well, how Congress started playing the game of Muslim reservation in united Andhra Pradesh. Now they want to do the same conspiracy in the whole country. Will you let Congress snatch reservations from SC, ST, and BC?” He also said, “Congress hates Hindus and Hindu festivals so much, this is becoming evident every day.” He attacked the BRS too. But again, no Ambani-Adani were named.
Modi is expected to be out on a roadshow in Bhubaneswar, Odisha later at night, but rallies, with his speeches are planned only for Saturday. Odisha will vote for 21 MPs and a new state assembly in four phases, starting from May 13, all the way to June 1.
