‘Cong yet to shed mindset of imposing Emergency’

MUMBAI/BHOPAL: The Congress knows it will not win the Lok Sabha elections and, therefore its ”yuvraj” is threatening that the country will be on fire if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, adding the opposition’s mindset of “shackling the Constitution” and imposing Emergency has not changed.

Attacking the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, saying it did not have any “pro-development ideas”, Modi — who addressed poll rallies at Wardha in Maharashtra, Damoh in Madhya Pradesh and Amroha in Uttar Pradesh — added that polling for the first phase of the elections, which began in the morning, showed that his government was set to win a third term.

“When its ‘yuvraj’ says the country will be on fire, (it indicates that) Congress’s mindset of shackling the Constitution and imposing Emergency has not changed,” Modi said, in an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks.

Gandhi, while addressing an INDIA bloc rally in Delhi on March 31, had said that if the “BJP wins these fixed elections, and changes the Constitution, the country will be on fire.”

Canvassing from BJP candidates from Wardha and Amravati constituencies, which will go to polls on April 26, Modi said: “The 2024 elections are for fulfilling the dream of Viksit (developed) and Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat. The country is all set to take a decisive step in this direction.”

At Damoh rally, Modi said war clouds were hovering over the world and under these circumstances a strong BJP-led government with an absolute majority was needed to protect the country’s interests and tackle any eventuality.

“You all are seeing that war clouds are hovering over the world. When there is an atmosphere of war in the world... the country needs a strong government that is capable of protecting it in any situation. And this can happen only when there is a BJP government with an absolute majority,” he said. The remarks came in the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel and rising tension in West Asia.

In a veiled dig at Pakistan,

which is facing a host of economic issues, Modi said a neighbouring country which was a “supplier of aatank (terror), is now struggling for supply of aata (flour).”

Attacking the opposition for boycotting the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, Modi praised Iqbal Ansari, a former litigant in the RamjanmabhoomiBabri Masjid case, for accepting the invitation to attend the event. “Ansari is from a normal family. Look at his behaviour and those of Congress leaders...,” Modi said. Damoh, along with six other Madhya Pradesh seats, will vote in the second phase of elections on April 26.

“I appeal to everyone to exercise their right to vote given by the Constitution,” he said.