‘Mujra for their vote bank’: PM Modi in attack on Oppn
PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sharpened his attack on the Opposition over “appeasement politics,” saying that the INDIA bloc can choose to perform “mujra” for its vote bank, but he won’t let them divert the reservations meant for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to Muslims.
Holding back-to-back rallies in Patliputra, Buxar, and Karakat Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, Modi said that he will continue to fight for the rights of backward classes while the Opposition can remain enslaved to its vote bank if it wants to. “Bihar is the land which has given a new direction to the fight for social justice. I wish to declare on its soil that I will foil the plans of the INDI alliance to rob SCs, STs and OBCs of their rights and divert these to Muslims. They may remain enslaved and perform ‘mujra’ (a dance performed by courtesans) to please their vote bank,” he said during a rally at Bikram, which falls under the Patliputra constituency.
There are 24 of candidates, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharati, in the fray from the seat. It is currently held by RK Yadav of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and will go to polls in the last phase, along with seven other seats in the state, on June 1.
Modi also welcomed the Calcutta high court’s recent decision to scrap other backward classes (OBCs) certificates awarded to 77 communities since 2010, an overwhelming majority of them Muslim, in West Bengal. The state’s Trinamool Congress government has said that it will move the Supreme Court against the verdict.
“The Calcutta high court has given big slap to the TMC government in West Bengal. The INDI alliance has an agenda to change the constitution, if voted to power, so that courts are unable to overrule their attempts to divert reservations to Muslims. I have been
challenging them to refute me in writing but they have been reluctant,” he said at a rally in Dehri.
The Prime Minister accused the Opposition of indulging in scaremongering in a bid to turn the people against him, but said that their efforts would prove to be futile.
“The Opposition has always indulged in scaremongering and instilling fear. But Modi has exposed their true masks. Modi does not get scared and we have already scrapped article 370 and brought in CAA. Modi has been working to stamp out Pakistansponsored terrorism, and corruption without fear,” he said.
The PM said that all those involved in the land-for-job case will be brought to justice, as he took an indirect jibe at Bihar’s former deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and his family. “Once their helicopter ride ends, they will end up in jail, Those involved in the land for job scam will go to jail. Their countdown has begun,” he said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have said that appointment of substitutes in Group-D jobs were done in the railways during 2004-09, violating the recruitment norms and procedures of the Indian Railways. The candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, allegedly sold land to the family members of Lalu Prasad at discounted rates of up to one-fourth to one-fifth of prevailing market rates. In separate charge sheets, the agencies have named Lalu, his wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi, daughters Hema Yadav and Misa Bharti, and others. The Yadavs have denied the allegation.