Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during BJP ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’, in Bhopal. (PTI Photo) Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during BJP ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’, in Bhopal. (PTI Photo)

Hitting back at the Congress, which continues to attack his party and government over the Rafale deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said the Congress was looking for support outside the country after failing to stitch together a coalition within India.

In an apparent reference to a tweet by former Pakistan minister Rehman Malik, who had said that Rahul Gandhi will be “next PM of India if he follows ‘Jet Gate’ properly”, Modi asked if some other country will decide who will be India’s Prime Minister.

“Congress party Hindustan me gathbandhan karne main safal nahi ho rahi hai. Aur agar mil bhi jaaye to ye mel milap sambhav nahi dikhta hai. Aur isliye Bharat ke bahar gathbandhan khoja ja raha hai. Duniya ke koi desh ab ye tay karenge ki Hindustan me pradhan mantri kaun banega? (The Congress party has not been successful in forming a coalition in the country. Even if it finds someone, the coalition does not look probable. That’s why allies are being searched for outside India. Will some country decide who will be India’s PM?),” he said.

The Prime Minister also attacked “votebank politics”, which he compared to termites. “Hamare desh votebank ki rajneeti ne samaaj ko deemak ki tarah tabah kar diya hai… azadi ke 70 saal mei jo barbaadi aayi usse agar desh ko bachana hai toh…BJP ki vishesh jimmevari hai (Like termites, vote bank politics has destroyed our society. It is now the BJP’s special responsibility to save the country from 70 years of destruction),” he said.

Modi, along with BJP president Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Tuesday addressed a Karyakarta Sammelan at Bhopal’s Jamboree Maidan. Follow Highlights Here

Addressing the gathering before the Prime Minister, Shah, referred to the National Register of Citizens in Assam. “Assam ke andar register bana. Prathmik drushti se 40 lakh ghuspethiye chinhit ho gaye. Mitron 40 lakh ghuspenthiyo. Ab unko jaanch kar matdata suchi se delete kiya jayega…pure desh mei se ghuspethiyon niklane ki shuruat Assam ka NRC hai. (The NRC is being compiled in Assam. Prima facie 40 lakh infiltrators have been identified. Their names will be struck off the voter list after a probe…Assam NRC will mark the start of the expulsion of infiltrators from India),’’ Shah said.

कांग्रेस पार्टी हिन्दुस्तान में गठबंधन करने में सफल नहीं हो रही है तो वो भारत के बाहर गठबंधन खोज रही है। कांग्रेस पार्टी ने सत्ता खोने के बाद अपना संतुलन भी खो दिया है। कांग्रेस पार्टी देश के ऊपर अब बोझ बन गयी है : पीएम मोदी #KaryakartaMahakumbh — BJP (@BJP4India) September 25, 2018

Mocking the Congress, Modi said: “Have you lost balance after losing power? What has happened to the Congress?” He also said that the 125-year-old Opposition party had lost everything. “The Congress has become a burden and in a democracy, it’s the duty of every citizen to save the country from such people,’’ he said at the gathering, which the BJP said was the largest congregation of political workers in the world.

Daring the Congress to talk only development, and not divisive issues like caste or religion, Modi said that every time they throw mud at him he has emerged stronger. “Jitna kichad phekoge kamal utna hi jyaada khilega (The more you throw mud at us, the more the lotus will bloom),’’ he said adding that he has been attacked by opponents ever since he started active politics in 2001. “Restrict your opposition and criticism only to development,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President Amit Shah shake hands during BJP ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’ in Bhopal. (PTI Photo) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President Amit Shah shake hands during BJP ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’ in Bhopal. (PTI Photo)

According to Modi, despite having hundreds of retired union ministers and several governors, chief ministers, members of Parliament and MLAs, the Congress has been confined to some pockets in the country. “You have to use a microscope to locate it. Congress should reflect on what went wrong but it’s not ready to change. It’s happening because of arrogance. They think only they have the right to the chair and can’t reconcile to people from humble background making it big,’’ he said referring to himself and chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Yogi Adityanath.

He also said that though the BJP was reduced to two seats in 1984, it bounced back and won the trust of people instead of blaming EVMs or something else.

Modi said BJP was the only party in the world to base its politics on humanism. He said it was the only party to believe in Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohiya and Deendayal Upadhyay, who guided the nation by prioritising the welfare of everyone, including the man in the last row.

Calling the alleged discrimination against states a conspiracy, Modi said it was time again to punish the Congress and bring it to its knees. He said the BJP government in MP and his government worked in tandem in last four years to fast-track development in the state.

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