With an eye on next year Parliament elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday targeted SP and BSP, the two regional parties of Uttar Pradesh, accusing them of having ganged up against the BJP for vested interests. The PM also hit out at the Congress for its anti-women stand on triple talaq and for paralysing Parliament proceedings.
“I have read in newspapers that a Congress leader has said Congress is a party of Muslims but I am not surprised by this. All I want to ask is, if the party is only for Muslim men or for women tooIJ If not, why they are opposing the Triple Talaq Bill,” questioned Modi while making a frontal attack on Congress over their stand on the issue. “Is their any place of respect and dignity for Muslim women in CongressIJ They disrupt proceedings in Parliament, create a ruckus and don’t allow the Parliament to function,” the Prime Minister said.
“'The stand of these Opposition parties, including the Congress, on triple talaq has exposed them before the masses. On one hand, the Centre is trying to make the lives of women easy and on the other, people have ganged up to make the lives of women, especially Muslim women, difficult,” Modi said, adding: “The monsoon session of Parliament will start from July 18. let these Opposition parties meet the Muslim women and seek their observation on triple talaq. I will continue to press the Triple Talaq Bill as I know the problem of Muslim women and about halala,” he said. The Prime Minister was in Azamgarh to lay the foundation stone for the 340-km Purvanchal Expressway which will connect lucknow with Ghazipur at a cost of Rs 23,000 crore. Modi then left for Varanasi to address another rally and inaugurate a slew of development project. He will visit Mirzapur on Sunday. “In the 21st century, these political parties are living in 18th century, he said, continuing his attack. “When the BJP brought the anti-talaq legislation, these parties had put hurdles even then. They want that triple talaq should continue, and the life of Muslim women should remain miserable. But I assure you that I will make these political parties understand, and take them along so that Muslim women do not face any problems due to triple talaq,” he said. He said people should cautious of these parties and their leaders. “They cannot do any good for the people. For the BJP government, the country is a family and above everything else,” he said. Modi hit out at the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, saying that in the name of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Ram Manohar lohia they have done only politics. “These parties which could not see eye to eye in the past have joined hands now. Do you know whyIJ They want to stall the development work by the government. Will you allow thisIJ” the Prime Minister asked. “They had sought votes from the poor, the Dalits and the backwards, and after forming the government they filled their own coffers and have done nothing else,” he said. He said because of the policies of the previous governments, eastern Uttar Pradesh had languished. At the Prime Minister’s rally, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attacked the SP, saying that in the name of `samajwad’, the party was practising nepotism and hooliganism. On Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks, he said the erstwhile SP government had floated tenders for the expressway without acquiring land or even taking an environment clearance.