‘Even listening to Hanuman Chalisa …’: After ‘mangalsutra’, PM Modi launches another attack on Cong

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 23 hit out at the Congress and said that it is difficult to even follow one’s faith under its rule. PM Modi was addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s Tonk when he recounted the incident from Karnataka wherein a shopkeeper was attacked for listening to Hanuman Chalisa.

Sharpening his attack on the Congress on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, PM Modi said, "In Karnataka, they beat up a poor shopkeeper just because he was listening to Hanuman Chalisa in his own shop. Such is the condition of law and order in the Congress-ruled Karnataka. Even listening to Hanuman Chalisa becomes crime under Congress rule,” he said.

The Prime Minister told the gathering that Rajasthan has suffered under the Congress rule. "For the first time on Ram Navami this time, Shobha Yatra procession was taken out in Rajasthan ... In a state like Rajasthan where people chant Ram-Ram, Congress banned Ram Navami..." he added.

The PM said when "the country gave Modi the opportunity to serve in Delhi, the country took decisions that no one had imagined". "But if the Congress had been in power, stones would still be pelted at our forces in Jammu and Kashmir. If the Congress was in power, the enemies would still be cutting off the heads of our soldiers from across the border and the Congress government would not have done anything. One Rank One Pension would not have been implemented for our soldiers, bomb blasts would have been taking place in the country if Congress was in power," he said.

According to the PM, the Congress had committed "the sin of protecting the Rajasthan serial blast accused". "If the Congress was in power, it would have found new ways of corruption for itself...Rajasthan was number 1 in crime against women during Congress rule. Congress shamelessly said that this is Rajasthan's identity in Vidhan Sabha...." said the PM.

The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of "toying with the Constitution" and said that the grand old party wanted to reduce the “SC-ST reservation and distribute it among the Muslims".

"As soon as the Congress came into power in 2004, they decided to give reservation to Muslims out of SC/ST reservation in Andhra Pradesh. They tried to implement Muslim reservations, however, failed to do so. Congress tried to implement it in the entire country in 2011. They tried to do it even without knowing that this was against the Constitution. They didn’t care about it or BR Ambedkar,” said PM Modi while addressing a rally in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur.

PM Modi also said "the Congress thinking has always been of appeasement and vote bank politics".  "When the Constitution was drafted, reservation based on religion was opposed, so that SC, ST and OBC castes could get protection. Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh in his speech had said that Muslims have the first right on the country's resources. This was Manmohan Singh's statement. Congress's thinking has always been of appeasement and vote bank politics," he said.

PM Modi's remarks came after his recent comment that the Congress will snatch "gold and mangalsutras of mothers and sisters" at  a recent poll rally. Reiterating his stand, the PM said, "The Congress is hatching a deep conspiracy to snatch your property, distribute it among selected people."