Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday exhorted the electorate to choose between “vote jihad” and “Ram rajya” and raised the spectre of a “Babri lock” on the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
This adds a sinister edge to his polarising campaign as the Election Commission continues to look the other way.
The comments came at election rallies in Madhya Pradesh as people had started queuing up outside polling booths for the third round of voting in 93 constituencies spread across 10 states and one Union Territory.
“Brothers and sisters, India today stands at a crucial juncture of history,” he said at a rally in Khargone. “Aapko yeh tai karna hai ki Bharat mein vote jihad chalega ya Ram rajya (You have to decide if vote jihad will hold sway or Ram rajya),” he asked the crowd.
The Prime Minister said that while Pakistani terrorists were threatening jihad against India, the Congress back home had called for a “vote jihad against Modi”.
“That (vote jihad) means a particular section is being asked to unite and vote against Modi,” he said, asking the crowd if “vote jihad” was acceptable to them or whether the “Constitution of India permits this kind of jihad”.
At his second rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar, Modi told the crowd that he needs 400 seats to ensure “the Congress doesn’t put Babri tala (lock) on the Ram temple in Ayodhya”.
“The Congress is descending so low in its appeasement bid that if they have their way, they could even declare that only their vote bank will have the right to live in India,” he added.
At his third rally in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar, Modi sought to describe Pakistan as the “B-team” of the Opposition and accused the Congress of giving a clean chit to Pakistan in the 26/11 terror attacks. “Congress ka haath, Pakistan ke saath,” he said.
The spewing of venom to polarise voters came against the backdrop of multiple complaints by political parties and concerned citizens to the Election Commission seeking action against the Prime Minister for his repeated divisive remarks.
The complaints before the EC have been pending since last month after a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara on April 21 where Modi had said the Congress manifesto pledged to confiscate citizens’ assets, including the mangalsutras of “mothers and sisters”, and distribute them disproportionately among “Muslims”, “infiltrators” and “those with more children”.
The Congress had firmly denied any such promise in their manifesto and complained to the EC stressing that the statements “were clearly aimed at creating enmity between groups, far worse than any ever made by a sitting PM in the history of India”. The Congress had demanded action, underlining “this cannot go unchecked, unanswered and unpunished”.
The EC is not known to have taken any action beyond sending a notice to the BJP, and its officials have merely said “no comments” to journalists’ questions on the complaints.
On Tuesday, Modi accused the Congress of hatching “dangerous conspiracies” and claimed that a woman leader of the party was “harassed so much” for visiting the Ram temple that “she had to leave the Congress”. He did not clarify who the leader was.
“Another leader who left the Congress exposed another deep conspiracy, saying the shehzada of the Congress intends to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision on the Ram temple like his father did in the Shah Bano case,” Modi told the crowd at Khargone, referring to Rahul Gandhi.
Some party insiders claimed Modi’s comments should not be seen as a sign of desperation, but an effort to enthuse the cadres and traditional BJP voters to shed their complacency and come out in large numbers to vote.
Sections of BJP leaders, however, pointed to a “disquiet in the top leadership” over reports from the ground suggesting the lack of a “Modi wave” and voters flagging concern over “price rise” and “unemployment”.
