Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Friday alleged  BJP seeks votes in the name of God instead of talking about how it is going to control inflation or provide employment to people. Gandhi was addressing a number of nukkad sabhas in support of Congress candidate from Amethi Lok Sabha seat Kishori Lal Sharma where she said while the Prime Minister claims on national television that his government did in 10 years the work that was not done in the last 70 years, the situation on the ground level tells a different story.

Kishori Lal Sharma is contesting against sitting Amethi MP Smriti Irani. The BJP leader had wrested the seat, which was considered a Gandhi family stronghold, from Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.  Priyanka Gandhi targeted Smriti Irani and said her sole intention was to beat Rahul Gandhi.

She said, the Amethi MP and BJP people come at the time of the elections but do not talk about how they will control inflation, improve farming or provide employment to people of Amethi.  She added BJP comes to people’s houses and ask for votes in the name of God.

Did they not do this?  She said they are misleading the people. She asked why the BJP is not seeking votes in the name of work done in the past 10 years? She said everybody is religious and God and religion are very dear to all of them, but using religion for politics is wrong.

Gandhi recalled her family’s association with Amethi and said the tradition of politics here was such that it was a leader’s dharma to serve people and it was followed by all members of her family. She said the tradition was followed and so the people of Amethi always supported them and strengthened them. She said the relationship was such that they strengthened each other.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday attacked the Congress on the issues of Ayodhya Ram Mandir and reservation. He was speaking at an election rally in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar where he said that the Congress is engaged in the conspiracy to eliminate Hindu faith. The Prime Minister took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the remarks of Sam Pitroda and said, Guru of Shehzada has told US that Ram temple construction is against the idea of India.

The Prime Minister also took a dig at the Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena faction and called the Uddhav camp duplicate Shiv Sena. He said those from duplicate Shiv Sena are speaking about burying him alive. He asked the people of Nandurbar to have a look at the mindset of Congress. He accused the grand old party for calling the Ram temple as anti-national. He pointed out that the people who organise sarkari iftari, beautify the graves of terrorists for appeasement are calling lord Ram, his temple and his followers, who go to Ram temple, as anti-national, he said.

While addressing the rally in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar, the prime minister said, he wanted to say it with utmost responsibility, be it SC, ST or OBC, vanchit ka jo adhikaar hai, Modi uska chowkidar hai. Jab Modi jaisa chowkidaar ho, kisne apni maa ka doodh piya hai jo aapka hak chheen sakta hai.

Speaking at the rally, PM Modi attacked Congress on the issue of reservation and said that he has asked the grand old party to give in writing that they will not finish the reservation of SC, ST and OBC. He further added that Congress’s silence shows they have a hidden agenda.

PM Modi said that he does not belong to a royal family like the family of the Congress and that he has grown up facing poverty. The prime minister added that for him, serving and helping the tribal community is like serving a member of his own family.

INDIA Bloc on Thursday accused the union government of trying to create communal divide over a report that claimed there has been a decrease in the share of the Hindu population between 1950 and 2015. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and CPI General Secretary D Raja slammed Modi government for not conducting the census, and called the working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) as an attempt to get votes by creating a communal divide.

Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh used the report to target the Congress, and said there has been a decrease in the Hindu population due to its politics of appeasement. When RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was asked about the report he accused BJP of spreading hatred.

The census that was supposed to take place in 2020-21 has not been carried out till now. Yadav said the aim of the BJP government is trying to mislead the people of the country, and are spreading communal hatred. Yadav further pointed out that this is the only agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP government at the centre. He accused the Modi government of fooling people of the country for the past 10 years, and they want to do that again.

Raja questioned the timing of the report and asked why has the prime minister’s economic advisory council come out with this report at a time when the country is undergoing Lok Sabha elections?  He said PM Modi is already trying to polarise people in the name of Muslims and is talking about handing over keys of the Ram Temple to Muslims. He asked why is PM Modi taking up all these issues? Raja further added that this means there is an attempt to polarise people by bringing out such data and said the people should be cautious of such reports.