The Congress party criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday for the focus of his recent election rallies.
According to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Modi mentioned the word ‘Mandir’ 421 times, his own name 758 times, and referred to Muslims, Pakistan, and minorities 224 times in his speeches over the past 15 days. However, he failed to address the issues of inflation and unemployment even once.
“If we look at BJP’s campaign and talk about the PM, in the last 15 days he mentioned Congress 232 times.
He mentioned his own name, Modi, 758 times and on 573 occasions, he spoke about the INDIA alliance and opposition parties. But he didn’t speak once about price rise and unemployment. It shows that he kept the important issues aside and only spoke about himself in the campaign,” Kharge told reporters.
Narendra Modi has been accused by opposition parties of delivering hateful and inflammatory speeches against Muslims and opposition parties during his election campaigns.
The Congress chief also faulted the Election Commission of India (ECI) for not acting against PM Modi for the hate speeches, despite the poll panel prohibiting parties from appealing on caste or communal lines.
“Gandhi ji practiced the politics of ahimsa and not hatred. But Modi ji’s politics is full of hatred. Our focus remains on welfare for all. This poll will be remembered for people forgetting their differences in religion, caste, creed, faith, sex, language, and joining hands to defend the Constitution. PM and BJP tried to mislead people on multiple occasions. We sought votes on issues,” Kharge said.
He went on to say: “We are confident, people will give a verdict for a new, alternative government. INDIA alliance will form a government, and it will be an inclusive, nationalistic, and developmental government.”