People in these elections will fulfill Mahatma Gandhi’s wish at the time of Independence that the Congress party be disbanded, Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh told News18 in an exclusive interview.
Traveling with Singh during his election campaign in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, News18 witnessed a whirlwind campaign by the Defence Minister who was seen telling the crowd in his rallies that the Congress plans to take away their hard-earned wealth and properties.
“We have no constitutional right to provide reservation based on religion but to mislead people and to gain their support is an old habit of Congress. Today also they are working on this… that is why with time their existence is eroding,” Singh told News18 about the Prime Minister’s charge that the Congress plans to bring in reservations for Muslims in India.
Singh, in the interview, also said that the ‘wealth X-ray’ promised by Rahul Gandhi will lead to a financial slow down.
“This thinking is what brings financial destruction. They will have to pay for this,” Singh told News18. He added that the Congress ideology was suffering from “mental paralysis”, and said the Opposition’s voters were disillusioned with the party and had not shown up to vote in the first two phases, leading to lower turnout.
When asked on the Congress manifesto, Singh told News18 that “politics should not be done based on jaati, panth or majhab; insaaf aur insaniyat should be base of politics.”
Edited Excerpts:
The Prime Minister in an interview to News18 has strongly attacked the Congress manifesto, terming it alike that of the Muslim League…
I feel that jaati, panth or majhab (caste, creed or religion) should not be the basis of politics; Insaaf aur Insaniyat (Justice and humanity) should be the basis of politics. But Congress since independence has always practiced politics of caste, creed and religion to divide the nation for their selfish political gains.
They should avoid it. They have even gone to the extent of promising reservation based on religion. We have no constitutional right to provide reservation based on religion but to mislead people and to gain their support is an old habit of Congress, and even today also they are working on this, and that is why with time their existence is fast eroding.
Mahatma Gandhi, after independence, said Congress should be disbanded. I think he said this after giving it a proper thought. But they did not honor honorable Bapu’s words. Today their (Congress) situation is such that people have decided that we will fulfill Bapu’s wish about disbanding the Congress.
Rahul Gandhi has spoken about a ‘Wealth X-ray’ of everyone. Is this a dangerous thought? People in villages seem worried.
…And this has been indirectly endorsed by the Indian Overseas Congress head Sam Pitroda, who said there is a system in the US that 55% wealth is taken away as inheritance tax upon one’s death.
This will lead to tremendous financial slow down and the country will have to suffer a big financial crisis. Till people do not have the initiative that they have to work hard and invest to build assets, why will they even work?
This thinking of the Congress will bring financial destruction and difficulties. They will have to pay for this. Even Mahatma Gandhi and those who fought for our independence did not think like this; neither did our Constitution makers propose this. I have no idea how Congress got this so-called innovative idea. I will just say that Congress has vinash kaley, viprit buddhi.
Senior Congress and Opposition leaders are saying that the BJP is asking for 400+ seats to change the Constitution, finish reservation, and not hold elections in future…
I want to ask the Congress leaders: Till when will they keep lying to the people? Till when will you keep misleading them?
BJP is totally committed to the point that we will make no change to the basic structure of the Constitution. We have said it repeatedly. We always do what we say. We have a credibility amongst the public and we will never let it come under question. Reservation will always remain.
Rahul Gandhi says PM Narendra Modi is afraid of him, and that BJP government may have put Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren in jail but they can never scare him
(Rajnath Singh laughs) The country knows how much a person like Narendra Modi would be scared of anyone. I would say only one word about Rahul Gandhi — aatamshalagha (self-praise). He has a wrong notion about himself and that is why Congress is degrading, but they are not taking any lesson from it.
PM Modi has also referred to Manmohan Singh’s statements in 2006 and 2009 about Muslims having first right to country’s resources…
I believe that everyone should get the same right. I am clear about it. In our Constitution itself, there is no provision for religion-based reservations — then how will the Congress ever do it? On one side, they say that the Constitution should not be changed but on the other side you are misleading Muslims, they are talking about reservations and priority based on religion. How is this even possible?
Congress is saying BJP no longer speaking about its original slogan of ‘Abki Baar, 400 Paar’ and is worried…Voter turnout is also lower
It is the Congress which is worried. Look at what happens in Amethi and Rae Bareli but I feel they will not be able to gather the courage (Congress leadership fighting on those seats). So that shows who is worried.
Voter turnout has come down because people are disillusioned with the Congress and feel their existence is going towards an end so it is their voters who have turned out in lesser numbers to vote.
Our voters are enthused and happy and know that India’s stature has increased under Modi rule and are voting for us. Our voters are happy over India’s fast growing economy. IMF has also praised our economy’s growth.
This election is being contested by BJP purely on Narendra Modi’s face and his guarantee, why so?
Yes, we are fighting this election on the face of Narendra Modi. This is the truth because he has performed in the last 10 years. Whatever he had promised, he has done and even gone beyond.
So it is natural that Modi has developed his credibility and he has a fabulous track record. We are asking people for their votes on that basis, and we are talking about it in the election campaign.
How do you see your chances in Uttar Pradesh? In 2014, NDA won 73 out of 80 seats here, and 64 in 2019.
Our target is to win 80 out of 80 seats in UP. This is our effort. There may be a problem in one or two seats. But we will surely perform better than earlier. We will surely break our 73-seat record in Uttar Pradesh.
You are also citing the Ram Temple issue in these elections and say you have delivered. But neither the Gandhis nor Akhilesh Yadav visited the Ram Temple despite an invitation…
People are upset over Gandhis and Akhilesh Yadav not visiting the Ram Temple inauguration ceremony. People are taking pity over the thinking of these politicians, what has happened to their brains?
Buddhi maari gayi hai inki…Matti Mari gayi hai inki (their brain does not seem to be working). They, the Congress party, are mentally paralyzed. ‘Pran Pratishthan’ was not a RSS function, but some political parties did come for it.
BJP seems strong but your allies seem weak in Bihar and Maharashtra — be it Nitish Kumar or Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
See, people this time are not seeing all this. They are only seeing the point that Narendra Modi is to be made Prime Minister for the third time with a bigger margin, and make him stronger. Even if our allies have a few drawbacks or people are a bit upset with them over something, they will overlook that to vote for Modi.
Lucknow, your seat, has been with BJP for over three decades and you are seeking a third term now. I had some Muslims telling me in Lucknow that they also vote for you…
Yes, Muslims do vote for me in Lucknow and I hope that percentage will go up this time. You must have seen yesterday that during my nomination rally in Lucknow, people of all communities were present. People from the Christian community were also there. This was a natural turnout.
Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.