Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Modi and Kharge take potshots at each other ahead of polls

Mumbai: As campaign in Maharashtra gains momentum, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated the ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’ narrative even as Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge slammed BJP's top leaders for making provocative speeches and spreading lies.

While Modi addressed rallies in Akola and Nanded, Kharge was in Nagpur and Amravati.

Modi accused the Congress of dividing the society, caste and communities. “During the entire period that Congress ruled over India, Congress has always resorted to divide and rule. It has created rifts within the SC-Dalits, ST-Adivasis and OBCs. For a safe and united Maharashtra, choose BJP-led Maha Yuti. Ek hai toh safe hai,” Modi said amid thunderous applause.

“Congress knows more the country is divided the more strength it gains. That's why it has practised the policy of dividing castes. Mazboot Congress equals Majboor Bharat (strong Congress means helpless India),” Modi said, lashing out at the pitch of the Congress and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha for a caste census.

Giving the example of Haryana, where BJP defeated the Congress against all odds, Modi said, “I congratulate the people of Haryana for following the policy of ‘ek hai to safe hai’ and defeating the Congress. Haryana was the first to do so. Maharashtra should follow suit,” he said.

Kharge slammed Modi for the ‘ek hai to safe hai’ narrative and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath catchphrase of ‘batange to katange’.

“The BJP leaders are making provocative statements and trying to mislead people and diverting them from the core issues. You should ask for votes on the work you have done…why are you misleading people. Someone is saying ‘batange to katange’…someone is saying ‘ek hai to safe hai’,” Kharge told a news conference.

“The truth is that you are the ones who divide and you are the ones who cuts… but you blame others….you are involved in baatna and kaatna,” he said, wanting to know from the BJP as to how killed Mahatma Gandhi.

Modi and Kharge, in their separate speeches, also seemed to lock horns over the red-coloured pocket Constitution and B R Ambedkar.

Modi asked if anyone from the ‘shahi-parivar’ had visited Panchtirth birthplace of Ambedkar in Mhow, his residence in London, Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur where he embraced Buddhism, Mahaparinirvan Sthal in Delhi, and Chaityanhoomi in Mumbai, where his last rites were conducted.

However, around the same time, Kharge, along with top Congress leaders visited Deekshabhoomi and paid tributes to Dr Ambedkar.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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