PM repeats wealth talk, avoids Muslims
Terms oppn bloc and Congress’s policies are Maoist ideology-based
ALIGARH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused the Congress again of planning to redistribute people’s property if it is voted to power, but stopped short of saying that the wealth would go to Muslims.
Addressing an election rally in western Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, a constituency with a sizeable Muslim population, Modi accused the opposition Congress and the Samajwadi Party of following a policy of appeasement and yet doing nothing to uplift the socio-economic condition of the community.
In contrast, he cited the enactment of a law against instant triple talaq and an increase in the Haj quota as moves during the BJP government’s term to help the community.
On Sunday, Modi had triggered a political row by citing former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s 2006 remark on Muslims having the first claim on the country’s resources, Modi said in Rajasthan’s Banswara that the Congress was set to hand over the wealth of others to “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.
In Aligarh Monday, Modi repeated the point about redistribution of wealth, saying he wanted to “alert” people about the “intentions” of the Congress and the opposition INDIA bloc.
“The Congress’ prince says if his government comes, they will investigate who earns how much and how much property they have. Not only this, he further says the government will take over the property and redistribute it. This is what their election manifesto is saying,” he claimed, referring to Rahul Gandhi.
“Just think, our mothers and daughters have gold. This is women’s property. It is considered sacred, even the law protects it. But now they are eyeing a change in law and snatching the property of our mothers and sisters,” he said. “These people have their eyes on their ‘manglasutras’,” he added, accusing the opposition of trying to steal the gold women possessed.
He claimed that the opposition planned to conduct a survey of the property owned by salaried people. “If you own two homes, it will snatch one – the Congress will go that far,” he said. He said, “This is Maoist thinking... this is communist thinking. By doing this they have ruined so many countries. Now the Congress and the INDI Alliance want to implement the same policy in India.”