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regular-article-logo Sunday, 19 May 2024

Congress has insulted 26/11 heroes, June 4 to be 'expiry date' of INDIA bloc: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

'Where does the Congress want to take the country? It has stooped to a new low for vote appeasement,' the BJP stalwart said

PTI Ahmednagar Published 07.05.24, 06:29 PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting for Lok Sabha elections

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting for Lok Sabha elections PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged the Congress has insulted security personnel and people martyred during the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, remarks coming in the backdrop of party leader Vijay Wadettiwar's comments that then-ATS chief Hemant Karkare was not killed by Pakistan terrorist Ajmal Kasab.

Urging voters to ensure the Congress doesn't win a single Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra, he declared at a poll rally in Ahmednagar district that June 4 (the counting date) will be the “expiry date” of the Opposition INDIA alliance.

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Addressing a campaign rally for NDA candidates Sujay Vikhe Patil (BJP) in Ahmednagar and Sadashiv Lokhande (Shiv Sena) in Shirdi, he said the Opposition party's "A team is losing (in Lok Sabha polls) so the 'B' team from across the border has been activated and it is encouraging the Congress", an apparent reference to remarks made on MP Rahul Gandhi by a Pakistan politician.

"Here, the Congress is giving a clean chit to terrorists which even the neighbouring country has accepted role of its citizens (in 26/11 attacks). Where does the Congress want to take the country? It has stooped to a new low for vote appeasement," the BJP stalwart noted.

Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist caught alive after the 26/11 attacks in November 2008, was hanged to death at the Yerawada central prison in Pune on November 21, 2012.

The PM's attack on the Congress came in the wake of controversial remarks made by Wadettiwar, the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, that then-Maharashtra ATS chief Karkare was not killed by Kasab, but fell to a bullet fired by a policeman affiliated to the RSS.

"Should the Congress win even a single seat here (in Maharashtra)?" Modi asked the gathering to which there was a loud "no" in Marathi.

The BJP's star campaigner said national security and development were two "Modi guarantees" along with farmers' welfare.

Reiterating his assertion that the Congress manifesto had Muslim League imprint, Modi asserted the BJP-led NDA's manifesto was about development, welfare of the poor, national security and upholding the country's self-respect.

He said the Congress party's poverty alleviation slogans have proved false.

Modi referred to RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav's remarks about reservations to Muslims and said the opposition alliance was playing a dangerous game.

He claimed the Opposition was planning to take away quota of SCs/STs/ OBCs and give it to Muslims.

"The Constitution doesn't allow religion-based quota. The INDI alliance wants to change the Constitution," he alleged.

Voting in Ahmednagar and Shirdi Lok Sabha seats will take place on May 13.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.

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