Virtually kicking off the camapaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on the Opposition on the issue of Uniform Civil Code and triple talaq and exuded confidence of his government returning to power for a third straight term.
“Today people are being instigated in the name of the Uniform Civil Code. How can the country be run on two (laws)? The Constitution also talks of equal rights…Supreme Court has also asked to implement UCC. These (Opposition) people are playing vote bank politics” Modi said, addressing BJP leaders and workers virtually across 10 lakh booths in the country from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
With Article 370 scrapped and the Ram temple in Ayodhya well on track, a UCC remains among the last unfulfilled promises central to the Sangh Parivar agenda, and part of the BJP’s manifesto promise.
Will clear misunderstanding among Muslims: PM
The Prime Minister further said that the lives of Pasmanda Muslim brothers and sisters have been made miserable by those indulging in vote bank politics.
“They live a life of struggle. No one listens to them. They have been discriminated against so much, but there has been no debate on this. Even today, Pasmanda Muslims are not given an equal share. They are thought of as untouchables,” Modi said.
The BJP has been conducting an active outreach programme for the community since last year.
Modi added that the discrimination has aggravated to an extent that several generations have had to suffer. “But BJP will work for every citizen with the mindset of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’. When our booth workers will go with this mindset to Muslim brothers and sisters and help them understand, then all misunderstandings will be cleared,” he said.
Attacking the “supporters of triple talaq”, PM Modi asked, “Had triple talaq been an important aspect of Islam, then why is it not there in Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, Jordon, Syria and Bangladesh?”
He further alleged that Egypt had “removed” the practice “80-90 years ago”, and that “some people want the license to discriminate against Muslim women all the time through the Triple Talaq noose,” adding that those who are supporting the triple talaq are doing grave injustice to Muslim daughters.
Opposition guarantees corruption and scams
Modi also hit out at the Opposition’s attempts at forging a united front. Taking a swipe at the the Opposition meeting held in Patna on June 23, he said, “The Opposition is fuming because the BJP is going to win the 2024 Lok Sabha elections… so they are having meetings and are coming together…But the Opposition guarantees corruption and scams. The Congress, the RJD, TMC, NCP all of them are linked to a long list of massive scams.”
He also said that all the corrupt joined hands in the Patna meeting. “The Opposition is trying to escape the anti-scam crackdown. The corrupt leaders are trying to save each other. My guarantee is I will not spare any of them and I will take every scamster to task,” he said.
Modi added that the BJP will definitely win a historic majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as well, which is why all the Opposition parties are scared. “That’s why they have decided that somehow, a few months before the elections, power should be won somehow, by levelling false allegations, and other such underhand tactics,” Modi said.
Modi also spoke on the new education policy that emphasises on the holistic development of children, knowledge, skills, culture, and promotion of Indian values.
Boosting the morale of BJP workers, he said, “We want to make India a developed nation till 2047 when India will celebrate 100 years of Independence and our country will become a developed country only when our villages will develop…Every booth worker of BJP should work towards making their booth strong and developed.”
“Today India is one of those countries in the world where there is swift development and inflation is under control despite Covid and the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war,” he added.
This is PM Modi’s first public address after returning from his six-day visit to the US and Egypt. On Monday, he returned to India and on Tuesday, he reached Madhya Pradesh. BJP national president JP Nadda and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also present at the programme.
Ahead of the interaction, in a tweet, Modi wrote in Hindi: “I will get an opportunity to interact with lakhs of dedicated workers under ‘Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot’ programme. This opportunity will further empower their resolve for a developed India. ”
Earlier, PM Modi flagged off five Vande Bharat trains, with two of them being for Madhya Pradesh, from Bhopal’s Rani Kamlapati railway station. These five trains will improve connectivity in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar and Jharkhand.