Hyderabad:
Amid Congress' attack that the BJP would amend the Constitution and remove reservations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that he would not allow quota for Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs to be given to Muslims on the basis of religion .
Turning his guns on the Congress, he accused the grand old party of turning undivided Andhra Pradesh into a 'laboratory of reconciliation' when it was in power in 2004 and 2009 by giving Muslims the reservation of B.C. also to harbor 'hatred' towards the Constitution since his birth.
Addressing an election rally in Telangana's Zaheerabad Lok Sabha constituency, he said, “As long as Modi is alive, I will not allow Muslims to get reservations for Dalits, Adivasis and OBC on the basis of religion.” When the Congress won a record number of MPs and MLAs in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2004 and 2009, it gave the reservation of backward classes to Muslims, he alleged.
Though 26 castes in Telangana have been seeking OBC status for a long time, the Congress did not approve it but categorized Muslims as OBC “overnight”, he said.
The Congress had started insulting the Constitution from day one when it removed drawings of Ramayan and Mahabharat from BR Ambedkar's Constitution, he said.
In a veiled reference to Rahul Gandhi, the Prime Minister said that the 'grandmother of Shehzada' (former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) has crushed the Constitution, imposed a state of emergency in the country and jailed millions of people in the country.
The first Prime Minister (Jawaharlal Nehru) insulted the Constitution and the second major insult was from “his grandmother” (Indira Gandhi), he claimed.
The father of 'shehzada' (a reference to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi) brought in a law to scare the newspapers in the country, which was opposed by the BJP and the media, and the move should be stopped, he said.
Recalling that 'shehzada' (Rahul Gandhi) had torn off copies of an ordinance issued by the then UPA government during a press conference in 2013, he sought to know how the former could talk about protecting the Constitution.
The Manmohan Singh government's ordinance was a decision of the then cabinet formed by the Constitution, he said.
The Constituent Assembly had decided that there will be no reservation on the basis of religion in the country and quotas were meant for Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, he added.
In an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi, he alleged that there is an attempt to provide quotas through the back door “unfairly” on the basis of religion to strengthen the vote bank.
He described the constitution as a 'dharm grandh' (spiritual text) through which he could run the government and recalled bowing when he entered Parliament in 2014 after taking power.
The Congress 'royal family' was unwilling to accept even the party's constitution and Sitaram Kesri, who was then Congress president, was 'locked in a bathroom' and 'thrown on the footpath' and the 'royal family' occupied the Congress party. regardless of the party constitution, he charged.
The first amendment to the Constitution was made by the first Prime Minister Nehru.
“They don't worry about the constitution. Everything is fine for the royal family when they have the power. But everything is worthless if they lose power,” he added.
Prime Minister Modi announced that during his third term, the 75 years of the Constitution would be celebrated on a grand scale and the 'sins' of Congress would also be taken to every street in the country.
In a veiled attack on Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Prime Minister Modi alleged that the money collected in the state is being diverted to Delhi through “double R (RR) tax”.
He made these comments while referring to the blockbuster Telugu film titled 'RRR', which received global accolades.
Targeting the Congress party over the fake video case, he said the party has started a game of misleading people and creating tension in the society.
Delhi Police has summoned Revanth Reddy to join the investigation on May 1 in connection with the 'doctored' video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah circulating on social media.
Prime Minister Modi claimed that Congress would impose 55 percent inheritance tax if voted to power. When the entire world was progressing economically, India suffered from policy paralysis under the previous UPA government.
“If Congress comes to power, they will impose inheritance tax. Congress plans to collect more than half of 55 percent as tax on inheritance (received from parents),” he claimed.
He looked at the Congress and said that when the grand old party is in power, it has five political symbols: first, false promises; second, vote banking politics, third, support for the mafia and criminals, fourth, dynastic politics and fifth is corruption.
PM Modi further alleged that first it was BRS that looted Telangana and now it is Congress.
Revanth Reddy has repeatedly claimed in his Lok Sabha campaign speeches that the BJP would change the Constitution and do away with reservations.
When the Congress was in opposition, it sought a probe into BRS' 'Kaleshwaram scam'. But the party is now behind the scam files after coming to power, Prime Minister Modi alleged.
Similarly, the BRS, when in power, did not allow the investigation into the cash-for-vote issue to progress, he alleged.
In 2015, Revanth Reddy, who was then in the TDP, was arrested for allegedly trying to bribe a nominated MLA to vote for his party's candidate in the Telangana Legislative Council polls.
Prime Minister Modi also said that today the “Indi (INDIA) alliance” is so desperate and disappointed that it has lost hope of becoming the authorized opposition.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)