 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged on Sunday that the Congress threatened Supreme Court judges with impeachment when they tried to hear the Ayodhya dispute cases earlier this year.
Without naming anyone, Modi claimed that Congress party's Rajya Sabha members, who are also lawyers, had tried to scare away the apex court judges to ensure the hearing in the cases is delayed until after the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
In an unprecedented move, seven opposition parties led by the Congress had moved a notice for the impeachment of then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in April this year, accusing him of 'misbehaviour' and 'misuse' of authority.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejected the notice, saying the case against the then CJI was based on 'suspicion and conjectures'.
At the political rally in Rajasthan's Alwar district, Modi said the Congress has no faith in democracy and judiciary.
"It does not hold dialogue and stall proceedings in Parliament, but the new game they are playing now is dangerous and this must be debated for a bright future of the country."
"If a Supreme Court judge does not prepare the time-table (for hearing cases) as per their (Congress's) political intentions and wants to hear all to deliver justice on a serious and sensitive issue, such as Ayodhya, then the party's lawyers, who are Rajya Sabha members, start the game of scaring the judges in the name of impeachment," Modi said.
He urged intellectuals to analyse this 'dangerous game' of the Congress in the interest of the country.
"They are working to scare judiciary on the ground of their numbers in Rajya Sabha. But we will not let this 'kaala kaarnama' happen in the temple of democracy," he said.
The prime minister said the opposition party has 'no courage' to talk about development and hence 'they ask about the caste of Modi'.
"Will you vote on the basis of the caste of Modi? Will the future of Rajasthan be decided on basis of birthplace of Modi," he asked the crowd gathered at his rally.
Modi's remarks were a reaction to former Union minister C P Joshi's statement when he had questioned the caste of Modi and others during a speech in Rajsamand district's Nathdwara.
Joshi is the Congress candidate from Nathdwara assembly constituency.
"They are deep neck involved in casteism. Casteism and feeling of hate against poor, deprived, underprivileged is in their veins and such statements reflect the basic behaviour and conduct of the Congress.
"It does not matter who spoke that (Joshi's renmarks) because everyone knows about the 'naamdaar' who make them speak," he said, apparently referring to the Gandhi family.
Modi also targeted the Congress over issues and discrimination faced by Dalits, saying the party 'forgot' to give the Bharat Ratna to B R Ambedkar.
Ambedkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990, 34 years after his death.
"Congress has only divided the country. For them, Dalits are a votebank while our values and traditions are different," Modi claimed, trying to contrast his party's attitude to the community, of whose members have been assaulted and beaten by right-wing activists for allegedly indulging in cow trade, with that of the Congress.
In Rajasthan, Modi praised the BJP's Vasundhara Raje government, saying it has done lot of work.
He also attacked Congress over a recent video in which a Congress candidate is seen stopping a party supporter shouting 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and then the supporter starts shouting: "Sonia Gandhi ki jai".
"For us, the country is bigger than the party but Sonia Gandhi is bigger than Bharat Mata for them," he said.
Modi recalled BJP leaders like former vice president the late Bhairo Singh Shkhawat and said he had started election campaign during the 2013 assembly elections in Rajasthan from Alwar.
Chief minister Raje and the party's candidates on all 11 constituencies of Alwar district were present at the rally.
In Lok Sabha bypolls earlier this year, the BJP had faced defeat in Alwar.
In the 2013 assembly election, the BJP won nine out of the 11 seats in Alwar but one of its sitting MLAs, Dharmpal Chaudhary, died in April this year; the party has given ticket to his son Manjit Chaudhary from Mundawar seat.
Located in eastern part of the desert state, Alwar shares border with Haryana and forms a part of Mewat region having a sizable population of Mev (Muslim) community people.
It also touches Jaipur, Bharatpur and Dausa districts.
Alwar's Ramgarh, a constituency represented by Gyan Dev Ahuja, who has been dropped by the BJP this time, was in bad light following the mob lynching of Akbar Khan on suspicion of cow smuggling in July this year.
'Cong dragging my parents into politics at Rahul's behest'
Later, speaking in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, Modi slammed the Congress for dragging his parents into a political slugfest, alleging that it was being done at the behest of party chief Rahul Gandhi.
He also justified his own tirade against the Nehru-Gandhi family, pointing out that unlike his parents, they occupied top positions in politics and the government.
Congress leaders have kicked up a controversy recently by first comparing the falling value of the rupee to the advanced age of Modi's mother and then claiming that the father of the prime minister was not someone illustrious.
"What has happened to the Congress party? Naamdar (referring to Rahul Gandhi) is tacitly supporting it, and therefore, its leaders are dragging the name of my father, who passed away 30 years ago," Modi said, addressing a rally here in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
"The Congress is running out of steam in this election, so they have started dragging my parents into politics.
"No Congressman would make such a statement against me or my family without the consent of the party president (Rahul Gandhi). It is the 'naamdar' (dynast) who is making his leaders speak against me," he added.
"My mother sits in her house, performing religious rites, confining herself to a room, and has never visited Madhya Pradesh. She does not even know the 'R' of 'rajneeti' (politics)," Modi said.
"Yesterday, they took the name of my mother and now my father. The Congress chief is behind this....Naamdar alleges that the prime minister takes the names of his family members. Yes, I have to take their names as they were in politics, unlike my family members who sit quietly in their home and do their job," he added.
"Had my parents held any public post, they should also have been criticised," the prime minister said.
"Your family has occupied top positions at the national level. The more you ask me about my performance, the onus is more on your family as well," he added.
The opposition party was left with no issues and was, therefore, indulging in this kind of an abusive rhetoric, Modi said.
"The Congress should compare its 55 years of rule with my four years (at the Centre) and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's 15 years (in the state).
"The Congress is lying so much to people that the people of Madhya Pradesh should wake up and ensure that not a single Congress candidate wins," he added.
The previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had introduced a crop loan waiver scheme in 2008, but of the Rs 6-lakh crore agricultural debt in the country, loans of only Rs 60,000 crore were waived, the prime minister claimed.
Former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar made a controversial statement at a Congress meeting in Rajasthan Saturday.
"Who knew you (Modi) before you became the prime minister? Even now, nobody knows the name of your father, but everyone knows the name of Rahul Gandhi's father," Muttemwar was purportedly heard saying in a video that went viral.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar had compared the falling value of the rupee to the advanced age of Modi's mother.
In his speech in Vidisha Sunday, Modi also mentioned his cabinet colleague and local MP Sushma Swaraj.
Despite health issues, Swaraj had ensured the development of the constituency, the prime minister said.
The 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly will go to the polls on November 28 and the results will be announced on December 11.