‘One corrupt party covering for another’: Modi on Congress-AAP alliance

INDIA bloc can go to any extent to pursue its “vote bank” politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed on Saturday (May 18) as he addressed his first rally in the national capital for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

He claimed that the then Congress government had, during the 2014 elections, handed over 123 properties spread across prime locations in Delhi to the Waqf Board for votes.

On his “heir”

Slamming the Congress-AAP alliance in Delhi as opportunistic, he said the world was watching how one corrupt party was covering for another corrupt party.

Modi asserted that if he has any heir, it is the 140 crore Indians for whose bright future he has dedicated himself. His every moment is for the country and his life is dedicated to realising the dreams of its citizens, the prime ministers said while addressing the rally in North-East Delhi.

Though he made no direct reference, Modi’s remarks came amid repeated claims of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal that he will make way for Home Minister Amit Shah after he turns 75 next year.

He has chosen Shah as his successor, Kejriwal has claimed, an assertion rubbished by top BJP leaders who have said Modi will lead the party even after 2029.

Congress-AAP determined to destroy Delhi: PM

Listing several signature projects, including the new Parliament building and the war memorial, Prime Minister Modi asserted that he lives and works hard for democracy. It is Modi in whose heart democracy is alive, he said, noting that his government has built a museum dedicated to all the prime ministers.

This Congress-AAP alliance seems determined to destroy Delhi, he said, adding that its leaders are responsible for fall in political standards and breaking people’s faith. Those who arrived to root out corruption are doing the rounds of jail in scams running into thousands of crores of rupees, Modi said in a swipe at Kejriwal.

The Congress, he said, would not tire of taking credit for exposing the AAP government’s scams, but its Delhi, leaders were forced by the Gandhi family to join hands with the city’s ruling party.

On Oppn’s pro-Muslim politics

Intensifying his attack on the Opposition alliance for its alleged pro-Muslim politics, Modi said the Congress had joined hands with those advocating for “vote jihad” for its vote bank during the 2014 elections.

It was agreed that they would vote for the Congress, and its government in turn handed over the country’s properties to the Waqf Board, he said.

These properties were spread across prime locations where a yard of land costs many lakhs of rupees, Modi said, claiming that the opportunist opposition alliance can incite violence for its appeasement politics.

Modi blamed the Opposition for the 2020 Delhi riots following the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and noted that many people, mostly Dalits, who were persecuted in neighbouring countries, were recently granted citizenship under the law.

The Opposition alliance supports reservation on religious ground, restoration of Article 370 and abolition of India’s nuclear bombs, he claimed.

(With agency inputs)