Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged the Congress manifesto reflected “the policies of the Muslim League before Independence”, capping his earlier references to the Ram temple and cross-border terrorism on the campaign trail.

Since the erstwhile Muslim League is widely considered the prime mover behind the creation of Pakistan, Modi’s comment seemed to obliquely tie the Congress to the neighbouring country. The Muslim League is, however, not to be confused with the Congress’s present-day ally in Kerala, the Indian Union Muslim League.

“The manifesto of the Congress, released yesterday, shows that it cannot fulfil the aspirations of the country. The Congress manifesto has the imprint of the policies of the Muslim League before Independence,” Modi told an election rally in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Without explaining his remark, he reiterated: “The Congress’s manifesto looks like that of the Muslim League.”

His choice of venue appeared no accident: Saharanpur is home to the Darul Uloom Deoband, one of the biggest Islamic seminaries in the world that is considered the ideological hub of Indian Sunni Muslims.

The BJP has long been accused of running polarising election campaigns. On Thursday, Modi had invoked “terror from small countries” and accused past Congress governments of weakness in tackling it.

On Friday, he alleged the Congress had ordered its leaders to “seal their lips” on the Ram temple, warning the country wouldn’t tolerate this “grave insult to our faith”. The Congress has denied the allegation.

At Saharanpur, however, Modi somewhat surprisingly started off by praising
the Congress’s role in the freedom struggle.

“Friends, the Congress fought the war of independence in the past and many big leaders were associated with it. Even Mahatma Gandhi’s name was associated with it,” he said.

“But the Congress of the past is not the same (as today’s Congress). The Congress that exists now has no policy or vision for the country,” he added before going on to draw the Muslim League parallel.

Ridiculing the principal Opposition party, Modi said the Congress had “failed till date to muster the courage to field its candidates even from seats they consider their strongholds”.

He seemed to be alluding to Rae Bareli and Amethi, constituencies seen for decades as Nehru-Gandhi pocket boroughs.

Rahul Gandhi lost from Amethi in 2019 while Sonia Gandhi won from Rae Bareli but has now shifted to the Rajya Sabha. The Congress, given 17 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh by ally Samajwadi Party, is yet to name candidates from 7 including Amethi and Rae Bareli.

The BJP, expected to contest over 70 seats in the state, has named less than 40 candidates so far.

“The Congress is unable to find a nominee.... The INDI alliance is synonymous with instability, this is why the country doesn’t take them seriously,” Modi said.

He claimed this was the first election he was fighting where the opponents were more interested in reducing the BJP’s seats than in forming their own government.

“I’m looking at the first election in the country where the Opposition is not claiming victory,” he said.

“Have you heard any Opposition leader say they will form the government? The Opposition is contesting to ensure that the BJP doesn’t get 370 seats and the NDA gets less than 400.”

Rahul Gandhi has been saying at his rallies that this election will be closer than most people think and that the INDIA bloc is fighting to win.

Modi repeated his charge, without naming Rahul, that “some” INDIA leaders had declared a war on Shakti or the divine feminine power. The word “shakti”, however, also means “power” plain and simple, and Rahul had said he was fighting the “shakti” that controls the system Modi represents.

“This place belongs to Mother Shakambhari (deity of a local temple), a seat of Shakti. Shakti is worshipped in every corner of Hindustan. It’s unfortunate that some people in the INDI alliance have been declaring that their fight is against Shakti,” Modi said.