LUCKNOW/ITANAGAR: Raising the BJP’s campaign pitch in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sought to the turn the tables on the Congress over the ‘hate’ debate.
Reminding the people of Saharanpur of the infamous “boti-boti” (cut into small pieces) jibe of Congress candidate Imran Masood, he accused the Grand Old Party of patronising such elements who openly threatened to cut people into pieces.
“The Opposition threatens us with ‘boti-boti’ (cutting into pieces) and we talk of ensuring honour and safety of ‘beti-beti’ (daughters),” he said.
The PM was referring to Masood’s hate speech in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls when he was jailed for using objectionable language against Modi, then Gujarat CM and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
In Amroha, the Prime Minister played the nationalism card and accused the Opposition of having a single point agenda of “Modi hatao”.
“Bua and Babua (BSP chief Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav) treated terrorists with kid gloves for the sake of votes. They used to set the perpetrators of terror attacks free,” he claimed.
Mamata, Shah spar on NRC, Citizenship Bill
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused PM Modi of “fooling” the people of Assam by doling out the twin “lollipops” of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
“Not just the Muslims, some 22 lakh Hindus were left out of the NRC. We are fighting to get their names included in the list. No political party supported them but we were always with them,” she said at a rally in Dhubri.
Some 350 km east of Dhubri, in Jagiroad, BJP president Amit Shah said, “The Congress had encouraged infiltration of immigrants. Give us 5 more years, we will make sure that even birds from Bangladesh don’t fly into Assam.”