PM defends Sadhvi Pragya contesting Lok Sabha polls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a strong defence of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, the prime accused in the Malegaon blast case, saying the BJP nominee from Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency was being “defamed” by the Congress which had also insulted Hinduism and its sages.

The Prime Minister also rubbished the Congress’ poll promiseof giving up to Rs 72,000 to the 20 per cent poorest families of the country,saying this should be seen in the context of the opposition party’s trackrecord.

   

He recalled the accusations he faced as Gujarat ChiefMinister as he defended the candidacy of Sadhvi Pragya’s from Bhopal.

“I faced so many allegations that a wave was generatedagainst me. If you look at newspapers and online media, you’d find lakhs ofpages written against me. That’s what influenced the United States to revoke myvisa,” the Prime Minister noted.

“But when the truth came out, the same United Statesextended an invitation to me. This is the Congress’ modus operandi to propagatelies,” he said in an interview to India Today news channel.

The Prime Minister also referred to the court’s decision notto bar the Sadhvi from contesting elections.

“India’s age-old legacy has been tarnished by coiningthe term ‘Hindu terror’. This thing has to be taken head on. They said’chowkidar chor hai’. I challenged it upfront by becoming a chowkidar.”

Attacking the opposition, “which keeps targetingme”, Modi said that he was thankful to them for having aroused people’scuriosity about him and that the people would give them a befitting reply.

“As Gujarat CM, I was painted a villain for 10-12years…it is the Congress strategy to spread lies,” the Prime Ministersaid.

Recalling his days as Gujarat Chief Minister, the PrimeMinister said he respected institutions and cited how an SIT was set up overthe 2002 riots and how a policeman interrogated him for nine hours.

“The judiciary should be independent,” hestressed.

Criticising the Congress, the Prime Minister defended theEnforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department raids on oppositionpoliticians, saying if a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was foundinvolved, he too should be probed.

“The question to be asked is, was cash recovered inthese raids or not,” the Prime Minister said, adding the Congressgovernments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan had “lootedfunds meant for the poor over the past six months”.

Attacking the previous UPA government, Modi said there was ahuge farm loan waiver scam but it got buried due to the 2G and coal block scamswhich got highlighted.

Taking on the Congress’ concept of minimum income guaranteefor the 20 per cent poorest, the Prime Minister said people should compare thetrack record of the two governments.

“The MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan governments came onthe promise of unemployment allowance and farm loan waivers but nothing hasbeen done so far,” he said.

Noting that he had an “ideological fight with MamataBanerjee”, Modi said he was sad over the conduct of West Bengal ChiefMinister who had changed over the decade.

“I thought she was a committed politician, but it issad to see what such leaders have turned out to be…she talked of driving outBangladeshis earlier,” he said, adding that “we don’t consider anyoneas enemy”.

Dismissing the opposition’s charges against the electronicvoting machines (EVMs), the Prime Minister said that Congress leader KapilSibal organised a presser in London for the same.

“The controversy around EVMs is baseless. We should infact promote Indian democracy abroad,” he said, adding the opposition wasraising the EVMs issue as it had accepted defeat and was trying to findexcuses.

He slammed the poll-eve talks of opposition unity, sayingthey had all come together during the oath-taking ceremony of Karnataka ChiefMinister H.D. Kumaraswamy but were not together anymore.

“From Bengaluru to Lucknow, friends becameenemies,” he said in reference to the coming together of the SamajwadiParty and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh, ahead of elections.

“There is no alliance but only a competition among themto abuse Modi,” said the Prime Minister.

Defending his controversial demonetisation move, he said ithelped curb inflation and black money. Noting that he was satisfied witheconomic growth, Modi said note ban had doubled the tax net and promotedhonesty.

Responding to the charges over jobless growth by theopposition, the PM said in fact, more Mudra loans indicated job creation. Onthe controversy over lack of job data, the Prime Minister said an expert panelwas working on it and soon a new system would evolve.

Flagging national security as a concern, Modi asked why theCongress was neglecting the armed forces and demoralising them.

“They need to be exposed. Will Pakistan PM remove theIndian PM?” he said, adding that he only briefly mentioned about the surgicalstrikes in his speeches.

He also questioned the previous UPA’s track record indealing with terrorism in 2008 when blasts took place in several cities.

Asserting that there were no doubts among the people’s mindover the Rafale fighter jets deal, Modi said the Congress had been allegingcorruption in the purchase as it was election time.

“They will keep raising Rafale till elections areover,” he added.

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