Modi sharpens attack on Cong over terrorism, graft

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of sympathising with terrorism and condoning corruption, and said that the BJP’s rise to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections broke the back of an ecosystem of middlemen who siphoned public money.

Speaking at a clutch of election rallies in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which go to the polls on November 17 and 25 respectively, Modi said that the BJP will eradicate “goonda raj” and that a vote for the party will strengthen him and keep the Congress away from power.

Speaking in Udaipur in Rajasthan, where in June 2022 Kanhaiyyalal Sahu was hacked to death by two Muslim men, Modi said that the “terror incident” was a blot on the chief minister Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government. “The heinous crime took place in Udaipur because a Congress government that sympathises with terror is in power in Rajasthan. The appeasement policy of the Congress government has endangered the culture, heritage and honour of the state,” he said.

The Prime Minister also said that the Rajasthan government had failed on law and order and controlling crimes against women. “The BJP will eradicate ‘goonda raj’ and crime completely from Rajasthan. I assure every woman in Rajasthan that they can live with dignity and without fear. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.