Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested on Sunday that if the Congress were to come to power, it would redistribute the wealth of the people to Muslims. He cited former PM Manmohan Singh’s statement that the minority community had the primary claim on the country’s resources.
Speaking at a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara, Modi accused the Congress of intending to allocate the hard-earned money and assets of the people to “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.
Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara, he said, “Pehle jab unki sarkar thi, unhone kaha tha ki desh ki sampati par pehla adhikar Musalmano ka hai. Iska matlab, ye sampati ikatthi karke kisko baatenge? Jinke zyada bacche hain, unko baatenge, ghuspaithiyon ko baatenge. Kya aapki mehnat ki kamayi ka paisa ghuspaithiyon ko diya jayega? Aapko manzoor hai yeh? (Earlier, when they (the Congress) were in power, they had said Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators? Do you agree to this)?”
“Ye Congress ka manifesto keh raha hai, ki woh mataon aur beheno ke sone ka hisaab karenge, uski jarthi karenge, jaanakari lenge aur phir woh sampati ko baant denge. Aur unko baatenge, jinko Manmohan Singh ji ki sarkar ne kaha tha ki sampati par pehla adhikar Musalmanon ka hai. Bhaiyon aur behno, yeh Urban Naxal ki soch, meri mataon, behno, aapka mangal sutra bhi bachne nahi denge (The Congress manifesto says they will calculate the gold with mothers and sisters, and then distribute that property. They will distribute it to whom – Manmohan Singh’s government had said that Muslims have the first right on the country’s assets. This urban Naxal mindset, my mothers and sisters, they will not even leave your ‘mangalsutra’. They can go to that level),” he said.
Modi was referring to former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s controversial “first claim” remark made in 2006.
In 2006, at a meeting of the National Development Council, Singh had said, “We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources.”
Modi’s remarks triggered a sharp reaction from the Congress, which said that after facing “disappointment” in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the prime minister has now resorted to telling “lies” and is diverting people’s attention from the real issues.