'Why not make a Muslim your party president?' PM Modi slams Congress's 'vote bank hypocrisy'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday ripped into Congress over "vote bank politics" and asked the party why it did not make a Muslim leader its president if it has so much sympathy for the minority community.

The Prime Minister was referring to Congress's opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, which was recently cleared by Parliament.

"They say that they did it in the interest of Muslims. I want to ask these leaders who are hungry for votes - if you actually have any sympathy for Muslims, then why not make a Muslim the party president? Why aren't they doing it? Give 50 percent of the seats to Muslims in the elections. But they won't do it. They want to snatch the rights of the citizens for (vote bank politics)," he said at a rally in Haryana's Hisar.

He accused the grand old party of spreading "vote bank ka virus" for opposing the Waqf (Amendment) Act and said that Congress destroyed the Constitution for its own benefit.

"Congress has become the destroyer of Constitutions. Dr BR Ambedkar wanted to bring in equality, but Congress spread the virus of vote bank politics. Babasaheb wanted every poor, every backward to be able to live with dignity and with their head held high, to have dreams and complete them," PM Modi.

He claimed that Congress misused the Constitution for political gain and hailed his government's efforts in promoting social justice and development.

Accusing the Congress of distorting the Constitution for its own ends, PM Modi said, “Congress made the Constitution a tool for gaining power. During the Emergency, the spirit of the Constitution was killed to retain power.” He added that while the Constitution envisioned a secular civil code, Congress failed to act on it.

“Today, uniform civil code has been implemented in Uttarakhand. Unfortunately, the Congress is opposing this,” he said.

The Prime Minister also lashed out at the Congress for what he termed as “politics over reservation.”

“Congress never bothered to check if the benefits of reservation reached SC/ST and OBC communities. To play politics, Congress brought a law to give reservation on the basis of religion in government tenders. This is when Baba Saheb Ambedkar, in the Constitution, said that there should be no place for reservation on the basis of religion,” he said. “Congress also changed Waqf rules for its own benefit.”

The Prime Minister also said that Waqf boards owned "lakhs of hectares of land" but the properties and assets were never used properly to help the poor and the needy.

“There are lakhs of hectares of land in the name of Waqf. If benefits from Waqf properties had been given to the needy, it would have benefitted them. If the Waqf land had been utilized properly, then my Muslim youths would not have to spend their lives fixing punctures of bicycles. But only a handful of land mafia benefitted from these properties,” PM Modi said at the rally.

He said that the loot of the poor will stop with the new Waqf law. "Under the new Waqf law, land or property belonging to any Adivasi cannot be touched by the Waqf Board. Poor Muslims and Pasmanda Muslims will get their rights. This is real social justice," PM Modi said.

Highlighting his government’s achievements in infrastructure, PM Modi pointed out the significant growth in the aviation sector.

“Before 2014, there were 74 airports in the country, but today there are over 150 airports. Imagine 74 airports in 70 years?” he said. “Every year, there are record airline passengers in the country. The airline companies have placed orders for 2000 new aircraft. On one the hand, our government is working on connectivity, and on the other hand, ensuring the welfare of the poor and social justice.”