The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Ram Navami coming, don’t forget sinners: PM targets Opp
Says INDIA bloc against Sanatan, Cong failed to implement Constitution in J-K
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi launched a blistering attack on the Opposition in Nawada district Sunday in his second rally in Bihar in 72 hours, a day after denouncingthe congress manifesto which he said “has the stamp of the Muslim League”, and reminded the crowd that “Ram Navami is approaching” and asked them “not to forget who committed sin”, referring to the Opposition “boycotting” the Ram Temple inauguration in Ayodhya.
PM Modi fired his salvo with “jungle raj”, Article 370 and triple talaq, and dubbed the Opposition INDIA bloc “a tukde tukde gang and one opposed to Sanatan.”
Without naming Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Modi came down heavily on him, saying, “The post of Congress president is not small. The leader perhaps said in Rajasthan why Modi is talking about Article 370 in Rajasthan? I want to ask if Jammu and Kashmir is part of India or not? Did our jawans from Bihar not sacrifice their lives serving in Jammu and Kashmir? Did the sons of Rajasthan not sacrifice their lives here too?”
He sought to know why the Congress had failed to implement the Constitution drafted by Dr BR Ambedkar. “It was left to Modi to implement the Constitution after many years in J&K,” he said and termed Kharge’s statement “an insult to the martyrs.”
On the Opposition boycotting the Ram Temple inauguration, he said, “They (Opposition) have an issue with Modi ki guarantee and want to b an it…i had said a grand temple would be built in Ayodhya. The Congress and RJD made every effort to prevent it. When the grand temple in Ayodhya was inaugurated (this January), they boycotted it... They did not attend the temple’ s pr an pr at is ht ha. ram Navami is coming, remember those who committed sin.”
In an apparent reference to controversial remarks of Karnataka M PD K Sure sh, the PM said, “Congress is talking about separating South India (from India). Its manifesto has resonance with the ideology of the Muslim League. It has not released a manifesto but an appeasement document.” In an indirect dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the PM said, “When I tried to know the reasons for the lukewarm campaign of the Opposition, I learned that a leader of the INDI alliance said he would not address a rally till he is projected as the PM candidate.”
Targeting RJD chief Lalu Pr as ad, he lauded bi h ar cm ni tis h Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, who is battling cancer and has excused himself from poll-related activities, for taking Bihar out of the era of “jungle raj” and on to the path of development and growth. “In those days, our mother sand sisters were fearful of venturing out of homes ,” alleged Mo di. Ni tish also highlighted the PM’S theme of “Bihar before 2005 and Bihar under the NDA.” “People of the new generation who are moving freely in the evening should know how tough it was to come out of homes in Bihar before 2005,” Nitish said. “There used to bea lot of( communal) clash es before 2005. When the NDA government came to power, there have hardly been any communal incidents,” he said.
Nitish’s ‘4,000-par’ wish
A couple of video clips of the Nawada rally went viral and Kumar was “trending” on X. In one of these, Nitish Kumar appeared to bend towards the PM’S feet with arms outstretched, before greeting him with folded hands. In another clip, Kumar can be heard wishing “4,000 plus (char hazar se zyada)” seats for NDA. Rajesh Rathore, heads the media cell of Congress in Bihar, said, “The JD(U) should make sure that Kumar reads out from a written script on public platforms, instead of speaking ex tempore and causing embarrassment to the whole of Bihar with utterances like 4,000-plus Lok Sabha seats...”