Congress tried to give reservation to Muslims from SC/ST Dalit quota: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: As the second phase of polling is scheduled to take place on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has intensified his attacks on the Congress sharpening his Muslim remarks which have led to accusations of hate speech.

At a rally in Rajasthan's Tonk-Sawai Madhopur today, Modi alleged that when the Congress was in power, they tried to snatch the reservation quota from the backward, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and give it to the Muslim community.

"An attempt was made to override the constitution and sabotage the Dalit and backward quota and give reservation to their vote bank, Muslims. When Congress came to power at the centre in 2004, they tried to cut the SC-ST reservation in Andhra Pradesh and give it to Muslims. This was a pilot project to be implemented in the entire country. They tried to give Muslim reservations four times in Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2010. In 2011, they tried to implement it in the whole country. It did not happen because of the intervention of the Supreme Court. When we came to power, we eliminated the Muslim quota that was created by cutting short the SC-ST quota."

Modi reiterated that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that Muslims have the first right to the country's resources. "I was in the meeting where Manmohan mentioned this. There is a conspiracy to steal people's wealth and give it to a special class. One leader (Rahul Gandhi) says that they will take an 'X-ray' of the properties. They will even seize the women's mangalsutra for the calculation of the properties. Congress and the India Front are abusing me for exposing all this. They don't respect the Constitution and Dr BR Ambedkar."

Modi alleged that chanting Hanuman Chalisa in Congress-ruled states is also a criminal offence. Congress government banned Ram Navami celebrations in Rajasthan. Modi also said that a Sobhayatra was held on Ram Navami for the first time in Rajasthan after the exit of the Congress.

BJP will protect Pasmanda Muslims

At a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh, Modi said that the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have failed to protect the economically backward Pasmanda section of the Muslim community and the forward category of the community are taking benefits. "These parties get mad when I talk about backward minorities. 80 percent of Aligarh's population is Pasmanda Muslims. BJP has already started efforts to hold them close."