New Delhi:

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was frustrated after sensing that the opposition’s INDIA bloc was heading for a majority in the Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking at a poll rally in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district, he said that this is the reason why the Prime Minister is now talking about “Mangalsutra and Muslims”

“We are heading for a majority, that is why he (Modi) now talks about ‘Mangalsutra’ and Muslims. He says we will steal your wealth and give it to those who have more children. Poor people always have more children. Do only Muslims have them?” he asked.

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“Poor people have (more) children as they do not have wealth. But why do you (PM Modi) only keep talking about Muslims? Muslims belong to this country,” Mr Kharge said.

लाईव: विशाल जनसभा | 2024 लोकसभा चुनाव

जांजगीर-चांपा, छत्तीसगढ़ #HaathBadlegaHalaathttps://t.co/VaTTO09Q9G

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) April 30, 2024

The Congress leader also said that he himself has five children and that he was the only son of his parents. He told the gathering that his mother, sister, and uncle died when their house was set on fire.

“My father told me I am his only son and he wanted to see my children,” Mr Kharge said.

Earlier last month, during an election rally in Rajasthan, PM Modi had said that if Congress came to power, it would redistribute people’s wealth to those who have more children and to the infiltrators. He also cited former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s remark that Muslims had the first claim on the country’s resources.

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Referring to plans in the Congress’ manifesto for an “economic and institutional report” as part of the national caste survey, PM Modi said, “Congress says they will calculate gold with mothers and sisters… and distribute that property… Manmohan Singh’s government said Muslims have first right on all resources…”

“… to whom will this be distributed? It will be distributed among those who have more children. It will be distributed to infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money go to the infiltrators?” he said.

Responding to PM Modi’s claim that Congress was planning to seize people’s wealth, Mr Kharge asked, “We ruled the country for 55 years, but did we snatch anyone’s ‘mangalsutra’?”

New Delhi:

Hitting back at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over their claims that his party intends to redistribute wealth and that even women’s ‘mangalsutras’ were under threat, Congress leader P Chidambaram has challenged them to show even one mention of any such promise in the manifesto. 

Mr Chidambaram also said such claims were possibly being made because his party’s manifesto was a well-considered one while the BJP’s was a document of cult worship. 

Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Wednesday, the head of Congress’ manifesto committee, said, “All that the BJP has been saying for the past three or four days, especially from the Prime Minister downwards, is absolute rubbish. Show me one word called redistribution anywhere in the manifesto, which runs to 45 pages. Show me the phrase ‘ redistribute the wealth’ anywhere. Unless they are reading a manifesto written by ghosts, hired by the BJP, in invisible ink; it’s not in our manifesto.”

To a question on Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the Overseas Congress, stirring up a controversy by terming the inheritance law in the US “interesting”, the former finance minister only said that it does not appear in the manifesto and that he himself had not spoken about it. 

‘Completely Imaginary’

On the PM’s claim that the Congress planned to give reservation to Muslims at the expense of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs, Mr Chidambaram said, “Where is that in the manifesto? All the statements made by the BJP leaders in the last four days are completely imaginary. They must show where this is in the manifesto. I have been challenging them publicly.”

The former finance minister asserted that the Congress has done its math and is confident that every promise made in its manifesto can be fulfilled over the term of a government.

“Last time, when we said we would waive agricultural loans, we were ridiculed and told that there is no money, but our government waived such loans to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore. When we started the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, we were again asked, ‘Where is the money?’, but we implemented it and the BJP has continued it. We found the money for it, and so has the BJP,” he said.

Emphasising that the Congress manifesto, which promises justice to different sections of society, is being talked about across the country, he said the BJP’s document is not even a manifesto but is called ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’.

“In fact, the entire document is cult worship. They have nothing comparable to our programme, our promises. Our manifesto has become the talking point throughout India. Unfortunately, the BJP’s ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ vanished without a trace in about two hours. Therefore, they are inventing imaginary stories and attacking us,” he said.