PM Modi: 'Biggest accusation I have faced is owning 250...' (2024)

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“I have not spoken a word against minorities. I am speaking against the vote bank politics of Congress. I am speaking on the Congress working against the Constitution," PM Modi told the news agency.

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Alleging that Congress is working against the true spirit of the Constitution of India, PM Modi said it is his responsibility to expose the grand old party's motives in advocating for reservations based on religion.

“The Constitution makers of India, including Babasaheb Ambedkar and Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru, decided that reservation will not be given on the basis of religion. Now that you are turning away from that, it is my responsibility to expose them. BJP is never against the minority," he told PTI.

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Not ready to accept anyone as special citizens: PM Modi

PM Modi assured that his campaign speeches aimed to expose the opposition parties' bid to appease minorities with vote bank politics.

While clarifying his party's stance on minority issues, PM Modi said the BJP has “not just today but never" acted against them. He, however, made it clear that he is not ready to accept anyone as “special citizens."

Modi said, “I follow the path of satisfaction. (Woh log tushtikaran ke raastey pe chaltey hain, main santushtikaran ke raastey pe chalta hoon). Their politics is that of appeasem*nt. My politics is that of ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’. We believe in ‘sarva dharma sambhav’. We want to take everyone along with us. We are not ready to accept anyone as special citizens but consider everyone equal."

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Notably, Modi, in his rallies, has accused the Congress of wooing Muslim voters at the expense of people from the SC-ST and OBC communities. While speaking at a rally in Rajasthan's Tonk-Sawai Madhopur on April 23, Modi said that when Congress was in power in the centre, it wanted to reduce the “SC-ST reservation and distribute it among the Muslims."

In the rally, Modi had said, “As soon as the Congress government came to power at the Centre in 2004, its first task was to try to provide reservation to Muslims by reducing SC/ST reservations in Andhra Pradesh. This was a pilot project that Congress wanted to try in the entire country. Between 2004 and 2010, Congress tried four times to implement Muslim reservations in Andhra Pradesh."

PM Modi on having ‘250 clothes’

“The biggest accusation that I faced … one day, Amarsinh Chaudhary (former Gujarat CM) alleged that Modi has 250 pairs of clothes," PTI quoted PM Modi.

“Then I asked the public… do they want a CM who steals ₹250 crore or a CM who has 250 clothes? The public of Gujarat said in one voice, 'The CM with 250 clothes will work.’ After that, they did not have the courage to level accusations. Secondly, I have told the people of this country that I will never do anything with bad intentions," said PM Modi.

Commenting on “brand Modi", the prime minister said, “A person, who has worked as CM of a state for 13 years and as PM for 10 years… and his 100-year-old mother spends her last days in a government hospital, then that country doesn’t need a brand; the country can understand that (my) life is somewhat different."

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Published: 20 May 2024, 10:42 AM IST