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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday accused Congress of taking the side of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab involved in the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.
While speaking at an election campaign rally in Ahmednagar, Modi reacted to the statement recently made by Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar that IPS officer Hemant Karkare was not killed by Kasab but by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated police officer, during the 26/11 terror attack.
“Our courts have passed orders (against the terrorists), Call recordings of terrorists are available… But the Congress party has given a clean chit to the Pakistani terrorists,” the PM said.
Modi further said the statement by Wadettiwar is “khatarnak (dangerous)” and called it an insult to the citizens killed in the 26/11 terror strike and the police personnel who died fighting terrorists.
Modi also called Wadettiwar’s comments an insult to Tukaram Omble, a Mumbai police officer who laid down his life while trying to catch Kasab alive.
During his speech, Modi also said that the third phase of Lok Sabha elections has made it clear that June 4, the day of counting votes, is the “expiry date” of the Opposition INDI alliance.
Blaming the Congress and its allies for “Tushtikaran (appeasement politics)”, Modi alleged that INDIA bloc wants to change the Constitution for giving reservations to Muslims.
“The Constitution does not allow reservations on the basis of religion,” Modi said adding that Congress wants to take away the reservations meant for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and give it to the Muslims.
The PM also claimed that if voted to power, the Congress will reverse the Supreme Court verdict on Ram temple like it did in the 1985 Shah Bano case.
“A former Congress leader has revealed that after the 2019 Supreme Court verdict on Ram mandir, ‘shehzada’ (referring to Rahul Gandhi) called a meeting and said if the Congress returns to power, it will overturn the Ram mandir ruling,” the PM noted.
Modi talked about the Nilwande Dam in Ahmednagar district, which he had inaugurated in October 2023 and blamed the Congress party for the delay in the dam work, which increased its cost from Rs 8 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
Modi claimed that after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis became the chief minister, dam work received a boost and got completed.
Fadnavis was also present at the rally along with Dr Sujay Vikhe Patil, the BJP candidate from Ahmednagar constituency, and Sadashiv Lokhande, the Shinde Sena candidate from Shirdi constituency.
Vikhe Patil is contesting the polls against Nilesh Lanke of NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), while Lokhande is contesting against Bhausaheb Waghchoure of the Sena UBT.
Polling for Ahmednagar and Shirdi constituencies will take place on May 13.
In Beed, Modi noted the Congress neglected the arid Marathwada region for long, while his government worked on expediting irrigation projects and solving water scarcity issue. —With PTI inputs
