Prime Minister Narendra Modi doubled down on his remarks against the Congress party over “appeasement” and “inheritance tax”, in an interview to national daily The Times of India.
When asked about the Congress’s “polarisation” charge against the BJP, PM Modi said, “It is not polarisation to show that Congress has violated the Constitution and enacted laws providing reservation on the basis of religion. Our Constitution clearly prohibits reservations based on religion but the Congress govt in Karnataka reversed the law passed by BJP to provide reservation to OBCs and gave it to Muslims, classifying all Muslims as OBC.”
From India’s foreign policy to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest and the Opposition’s concerns over the ‘misuse’ of central agencies, here are seven things that the PM Modi said:
PM Modi doubles down on charges against Congress
The Prime Minister repeated his charge that the Congress wanted to reduce “reservation provided to SCs, STs and OBCs across the country and give it to minorities”. Hitting out at former prime minister, Manmohan Singh, Modi added, “What else can one expect from a party whose prime minister said that minorities have the first right on resources of this country?”
Speaking about the Congress party’s economic survey plans, which party leader Rahul Gandhi dubbed an “X-ray”, PM Modi said, “We should not consider this sinister plan of the Congress party like an idle threat, the threat is very real and stands to hurt our nation irreversibly. This is a clear example of Maoist thinking and ideology. It is saddening to see the Congress party and its Yuvraj carrying forward such Maoist vision which is a recipe for disaster. You would have seen the Yuvraj (Rahul) saying that we will do an X-ray. This X-ray is nothing but raiding every home.”
On Opposition’s ‘electoral autocracy’ charge
Calling it the Opposition”s “scorched-earth policy,” PM Modi said, “Because the opposition is not able to get power, they start defaming India on the world stage.”
“India does not become an electoral autocracy if the Yuvraj (Rahul) cannot automatically get power. Just because he has to fight elections and the people of India are not impressed by him doesn’t make India less democratic,” he added.
On Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest
“I am optimistic that this will not become a precedent. I feel other politicians won’t be so lacking in morals and will not go to this extent,” PM Modi said.
On Opposition claims over “misuse” of central agencies
PM Modi claimed that only a “small fraction” of cases under central agencies are linked to politicians. “Of the corruption cases probed by the ED, only 3% involve politicians. The remaining 97% are linked to officials and criminals… Most importantly, no ongoing investigation has been closed simply because the person involved has joined a particular party,” the PM said.
On Uniform Civil Code
PM Modi emphasised the BJP’s commitment to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of the society. We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other community is stuck in a time warp due to appeasement. We will do everything in out capacity to make UCC a reality in India,” he said.
India on a global stage
Asserting India’s “nation first” approach to foreign policy, PM Modi said, “When we talk about our rise through a ‘nation first’ approach, it doesn’t threaten the world”. He added, “the world is today filled with conflicts and chaos, but there are islands of calm and growth like India. India’s role is more important in the world than ever before.”
On state vs Governors
Speaking about the feud between the state and the Governors in some Opposition-ruled states, PM Modi recalled his own days as a chief minister, saying, “I worked under Congress governors”. “I respected them and they respected me, despite our differences, and this was the case for many years. Perhaps for the first time since India’s Independence, we’re seeing this level of unprecedented attacks on our governors in various states,” he said.
