PM Modi says he will never accept religious reservations for Muslims

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that he would not allow Muslims to receive religion-based reservations at the expense of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

“As long as Modi is alive, he will not let the rights of the SCs, STs and OBCs be given away to the Muslims in the name of reservations. We shall never allow religion-based reservations, as was resolved by the members of the Constituent Assembly while drafting the Constitution before 1950,” he said in a rally at Alladurg village of Zaheerabad parliamentary constituency in Medak district.

Modi noted that some 36 communities in Telangana, including Marathas and Lingayats, have long sought inclusion on the OBC list. “But the Congress which came to power both in the Centre and in the state of combined Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009 granted reservations to the Muslims overnight by snatching away the rights of OBCs,” he said.

The Prime Minister accused the Congress of engaging in vote-bank tactics, claiming that the party has little regard for other faiths. “In Hyderabad, even the Ram Navami procession is being banned so that the vote bank does not get upset,” he told reporters.

Modi lashed out at the Congress for propagating misleading information about the BJP’s potential modifications to the Indian Constitution if elected for a third term. He recalled that the “royal family” of Congress had tampered with the Constitution countless times.

“It the great grandfather of the present Prince, the first Prime Minister of India, who had sabotaged the Constitution by getting the pictures of great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata from the pages of the Constitution of India erased. These pictures were inscribed on the pages of the Constitution to see that the rulers followed the noble path shown by the characters in these epics,” he said, adding it was the first Prime Minister who had made the first Constitutional amendment to curtail free speech.

Then, Modi recalled, it was the grandmother of the “shehzada” (prince) who had destroyed the spirit of the Constitution by imposing Emergency in the country and thrown lakhs of people behind the bars to safeguard her power.

“It was the father of the Prince, who made an attempt to curtail press freedom, but had backtracked after massive protests from various sections of people including the BJP workers. And this Prince had mocked the Constitution by tearing away the bill passed by the Parliament in the presence of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” he pointed out.

Modi claimed that when the Congress royal family was out of power, they would raise hell. “They impede the functioning of Parliament, call into question the independence of the Election Commission, and cast doubt on the effectiveness of electronic voting equipment. Now, they are misrepresenting the remarks of BJP leaders to safeguard their vote bank,” he claimed, alluding to the purported phony film that was broadcast on social media platforms to mislead people and cause social unrest.

The Prime Minister asserted that he was going to come to power at the Centre for a third time. “We shall celebrate the 75 years of the Constitution of India on a grand scale in every nook and corner of the country and expose the motives of the Congress to every citizen of the country,” he said.

Modi claimed that whenever the Congress was in power, it used five political symbols: first, false promises; second, vote bank politics; third, supporting the mafia and criminals; fourth, dynasty politics; and fifth, corruption.

Modi said that if elected, the Congress will impose a 55% inheritance tax. He also claimed that while the rest of the world was seeing economic growth, India was experiencing policy stagnation under the previous UPA government. “The NDA has brought India out of that phase with great difficulty, but Congress again wants to take the country back to the old bad days,” the prime minister remarked.

Modi warned that if Congress comes to power, it will bring inheritance tax. The Congress is planning to collect 55 per cent as tax on inheritance (received from parents). “While Tollywood has given a superhit movie like RRR, there is a talk now about “RR tax,” (implying Revanth Reddy tax), which is being paid by the Congress to its bosses in Delhi. If it is not controlled, it will destroy the entire Telangana beyond repair,” he said.

G Niranjan, vice-president and spokesman for the Pradesh Congress Committee, stated that Modi’s words during the Zaheerabad rally were a clear violation of the model code of conduct, and he had written to the Chief Election Commissioner requesting appropriate action.

“Modi attacked on the Congress and its leaders right from Jawarhal Lal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi without any basis. He also tried to provoke the people in the name of community and castes, by speaking against Muslim reservations,” Niranjan said.

He said Modi’s speech was full of hatred and intended to create communal and caste differences among the people. “We requested the EC to seek a detailed report from the local election officers and take action against Modi to prevent anarchy in the country,” the Congress leader said.

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