At Delhi poll rally, Modi targets AAP, Congress, anti-citizenship law protesters

Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, are not a coincidence, but an experiment, and need to be stopped, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.

Protesters were waving the Constitution of India and the national flag to hide their true intentions, said Modi, who is spearheading the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections.

The protesters were trying to disrupt social harmony and if they were not stopped in Delhi, they would block some other road in some other part of the country, he said at his first public meeting for the polls.

“Vote for change in Delhi. It will strengthen the BJP. People are facing problems because of these protests. They are silent but angry with vote bank politics. It is vote bank politics in Seelampur, Jamia Millia Islamia, and Shaheen Bagh over protests on CAA. It is not a coincidence, but an experiment. They hold the Constitution and national flag, but these people are hiding their intentions,” Modi said in a rally in Shahadra area of east Delhi.

“These people do not listen to or respect courts and they are showing the Constitution,” he said.

“They (Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP) are saving people who want to break India. People are seeing the true picture of those who had claimed that they had entered politics to change politics,” he said.

Modi said AAP, the ruling party in Delhi, and the Congress had doubted the armed forces when the surgical strikes had taken place and had also called the Batla House encounter fake.

The comment of the prime minister, who is also scheduled to hold a public meeting at Dwarka on Tuesday, on the protests at Shaheen Bagh and Jamia is along the lines of what most BJP leaders have said while criticising the ongoing protests over CAA.

Both the Congress and AAP have spoken against CAA and the implementation of the proposed National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

BJP leaders said a majority of people in Delhi do not support the protests being held at Jamia and Shaheen Bagh, and will support the BJP in the elections.

Voting in Delhi is due to take place on 8 February and counting is scheduled to be held on 11 February.

The Assembly polls will decide the fate of the country and make Delhi a truly 21st-century city, said the Prime Minister. “Delhi is not just a city. It represents India. The ongoing election is for the pride of Delhi and to make it a 21st-century city. The election is for development and to take Delhi to greater heights,” Modi said.

India in the 21st century will be governed by development and not by animosity, but till the time AAP or the Congress are in power they will not let development to take place, he said.

“It is because of the Delhi government that the poor are not getting houses under the central scheme. Till the time AAP and Congress are in power, they will not let development work to be carried out in Delhi. These people only want to indulge in politics. The time has come for the people to elect a BJP government in Delhi,” said the prime minister.