PM's veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav: Appeasement a must for 'shehzade'

In a veiled attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and called them 'shehzade' (princes). He accused them of doing appeasement politics and said it was "compulsory" for them to ensure the existence of their respective parties.

Addressing a rally in support of BJP candidate Rekha Verma in Dhaurahra, PM Modi said he will not allow reservation on the basis of religion. He accused the Opposition of planning to rob the reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) on the basis of religion.

"Politics of appeasement has become compulsory for the existence of 'shehzade' of SP and Congress," PM Modi said.

"I will not allow reservation on the basis of religion. There will be no theft of the reservation for SC, ST and OBC till Modi is alive," he said.

The Prime Minister asserted that Muslims in Karnataka were "made OBC" overnight and provided reservation from the OBC quota.

"They (Congress) now want to do across the country what they did in Karnataka. They want to rob the reservation for SC, ST and OBC on the basis of religion," he claimed.

Taking a swipe at the Congress and INDIA bloc, PM Modi alleged that the Opposition was using Muslims as "pawns" and that the community was now distancing itself after seeing the development works carried out by the BJP.

"The Muslim community also realises that the Congress and INDI bloc have made them pawns," he said, adding that "that is why the Muslim community is also distancing itself from these contractors of vote bank politics."

"Now, to save the Muslim vote bank, these people (Opposition) are playing a new game and are out doing appeasement in the open," he said.

He quoted BR Ambedkar and India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and said there would be no religion-based reservation. "But the Congress and INDIA bloc are adamant on doing it," he alleged.

"They don't realise that they are preparing a ground to break the country once again on the basis of religion," he said.

Accusing the Opposition of planning to stop facilities like Vande Bharat trains and free ration scheme if the INDIA bloc came to power, the Prime Minister said, "I want to ask SP and Congress people. Will you convert Ram Temple into a hospital after coming to power? Will you run a bulldozer over Vishwanath corridor in Kashi?"

He lashed out at the previous SP government in the state and said it "added bitterness" to the lives of sugarcane farmers.

"Sugarcane farmers did not get paid for their produce for years. Even if payment was made, the money was given in instalments. All these shortcomings have been removed by the BJP government," he said.

PM Modi added that his government was pushing for ethanol production to benefit the sugarcane farmers.

He also hit out at the previous UPA government and accused it of blocking the police and security agencies of not taking action against terror during its 10-year rule.

"The same situation was in Uttar Pradesh. There were terrorist sleeper cells in so many cities during the previous SP government. Terrorist organisations used to issue threats openly. When security agencies would catch the terrorists, the SP government used to withdraw their cases," he alleged.

At the rally, the Prime Minister was accompanied by sitting Dhaurahra MP Rekha Verma, MP from Lakhimpur Ajay Mishra Teni, BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary and BJP candidate from Sitapur, Rajesh Verma.

In Dhaurahra, BJP's Rekha Verma is pitted against Anand Bhadauriya of SP and Shyam Kishore Awasthi of BSP.

Polling in Dhaurahra is scheduled on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Results are expected to be declared on June 4.

(with inputs from PTI)