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“Every time these people seek votes from the people of Uttar Pradesh, they carry a basket of dynasty, corruption and appeasement. They do not leave any chance to attack our faith,” Modi said, addressing a rally here.
In a veiled attack on Gandhi and Yadav, he said, “The shooting of the film ‘do shehzade ki jodi (a pair of princes)’ is going on. But their film has already been rejected by people.”
Hitting out at Danish Ali, the Congress candidate from Amroha, Modi alleged that he has objections in saying “Bharat Mata ki jai”.
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Slamming the opposition, the prime minister said, “The SP and the Congress declined the invitation for the Ram temple’s consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. People hankering for vote banks refused the invitation for the ceremony. Instead, look at those who fought the Babri Masjid case in the Supreme Court but still participated in the consecration ceremony after losing the case.”
Iqbal Ansari, a litigant in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, attended the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple on January 22.
“They are not satisfied even after refusing the invitation, so they abuse the Ram temple and Sanatan Dharma. The SP, for its vote bank, calls Ram bhakts ‘pakhandi’ (hypocrites). Those in the INDIA opposition bloc hate Sanatan Dharma,” Modi said.
The prime minister alleged that when he went under the sea to offer prayers in Gujarat’s Dwarka, where Lord Krishna had gone from Amroha, “the prince of the Congress said there is nothing to pray under the sea. They are rejecting our faith only for their vote banks”.
Hitting out at Akhilesh Yadav as well as Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Modi said, “Those in Bihar, who say they are Yaduvanshi, in Uttar Pradesh, the leader who takes the benefits of being Yaduvanshi, I want to ask them, how can they sit with a party that insults Lord Krishna? How can you have an agreement with them?”
He criticised the Congress, SP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) governments in Uttar Pradesh in the past for allegedly ignoring farmers and said those growing sugarcane were given Rs 500 crore annually during the SP’s rule, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government gave Rs 1,500 crore to them.
Blaming vote-bank politics for communal riots, Modi said, “This vote-bank politics burnt western Uttar Pradesh in the fire of riots. The people of Uttar Pradesh can never forget that era of Goonda Raj. People had to migrate and leave their houses behind.
“In several western Uttar Pradesh neighbourhoods, posters with ‘makan bikau hai’ (house for sale) written on those were put up. But, Yogiji (Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) got rid of criminals for your safety. We must ensure that these forces are not strengthened again in any manner.”
The prime Minister accused the previous governments of cheating the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities in the name of social justice, and said he is working towards achieving the dream of social reformers Jyotiba Phule, B R Ambedkar and Chaudhary Charan Singh.
“The previous governments have only cheated the people of the SC, ST and OBC communities in the name of social justice. Modi is working day and night to achieve the social justice dream of Jyotiba Phule, Ambedkar and (former prime minister) Chaudhary Charan Singh,” he said.
The prime minister addressed the rally as polling was underway in eight western Uttar Pradesh constituencies in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls.
Amroha will go to polls in the second phase on April 26. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.
The prime minister began his speech with an appeal to people to vote.
“I appeal to everyone to exercise their right to vote given by the Constitution,” he said while emphasising that youngsters should especially go out and vote to secure their future and that of the country.