Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged on Thursday that "Congress wants to change India's Constitution to give reservation of SC, ST, and OBC communities to Muslims."
Addressing a rally in Gujarat, he targeted the Congress party in an attempt to woo voters amid the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Hitting out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi said, "Congress is dying here and Pakistanis are crying; Pakistan leaders want to make 'shehzada' of Congress India's prime minister".
Modi also challenged Congress to give in writing that it won't give a backdoor quota to Muslims.
“I challenge Congress to give in writing that it won't give backdoor quota to Muslims in states where the party and its allies are in power,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister is in Gujarat for two days, campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections ahead of the Phase-3 polling scheduled on May 7.
He is scheduled to address four poll rallies – in Anand, Surendranagar, Junagadh, and Jamnagar districts – covering 10 Lok Sabha seats.
Gujarat, the home state of Modi, has 26 Lok Sabha seats, but voting will take place on only 25 as one constituency (Surat) has had the BJP candidate elected unopposed.
Referring to the UPA rule as 'shaasankaal' (reign) and the current NDA rule as 'sevakaal' (service period), PM Modi accused Congress of trying to divide the country.
"These days, the 'shehzaade' of Congress are dancing keeping the Constitution on their heads. But, Congress should answer me why the Constitution, which you are dancing with on your forehead today, was not implemented in all parts of India for 75 years. Today Modi is realising Sardar Saheb's dream of uniting the country. Whereas Congress is busy dividing the country, Congress wants to create fights in society. Because of Congress, there were various kinds of tamperings with the Constitution of the country for decades.
"The country has seen the rule of Congress for 60 years. Now the country has also seen 10 years of service of BJP. That was the reign, this is the service period," Modi added.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused the Modi government of "clandestinely snatching away" reservation from Dalits, tribals and backward classes by "blindly" implementing privatisation.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said the mantra of Narendra Modi's campaign to remove reservation is -- 'na rahega baans, na bajegi bansuri', meaning neither there will be government jobs nor any reservation will be available.
"The BJP government is clandestinely snatching away reservation from Dalits, tribals and backward classes by eliminating government jobs through 'blind privatisation'," the former Congress chief said.
In 2013, there were 14 lakh permanent posts in the public sector, which by 2023 stood at 8.4 lakh, he said.
"By ruining top PSU's like BSNL, SAIL, BHEL etc., nearly 6 lakh permanent jobs were eliminated from the public sector alone, these are the very posts which would have given the benefit of reservation," Gandhi said.
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