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27-04-2024
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI: The world’s biggest election heated up after India’s Prime Minister made remarks about the country’s Muslim minority that drew fire from political opponents, only days before millions went to the polls.
India has 968 million voters, more than the populations of the United States, the European Union and Russia combined.
With the second round of voting beginning in earnest on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, head of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” who have “more children” during a campaign speech on Sunday.
Chasing a record-equaling third term in a row, Modi said the opposition Congress party planned to redistribute the wealth of Hindus among Muslims, something it denies.
Congress called them “deeply objectionable” comments that violated election laws.
The first day of voting was on April 19, which media covered live, About 110 million people turned out across 21 states and territories.
The heat generated by divisive, hateful speeches during campaigning in the world’s largest election being held in India has compelled the nation’s poll panel to intervene and seek “corrective action or a sort of healing touch” from leaders crossing all boundaries.
Charges and countercharges flew thick and fast between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its primary challenger, the Congress party, which swears by secularism.
At the center of the unsavory controversy were the prime minister’s remarks at an election rally in a town in northwestern Rajasthan state. He said the Congress believes “Muslims have the first right to the nation’s assets.”
Modi went a step further in his pitch for votes and warned Hindus that if elected, the Congress would take away their wealth and distribute it among Muslims. “Even gold ornaments of Hindu women will not be safe,” he added.
“Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators? Would you accept this?” Modi asked the crowd in Banswaral, a town in the desert state of Rajasthan.
In the course of his speech, the Indian prime minister made apparent references to Muslims as “infiltrators” who “have many children.”
He then went on to repeat the same allegations at an election rally in northern Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh city, which has a substantial Muslim population.
The Congress leadership reacted strongly, accusing Modi of “hate speech” and violating the model code of conduct for elections that bans canvassing “based on communal lines.”
In its complaint to the poll panel, the Congress party pointed out that Modi’s remarks were “far worse than any ever made by a sitting prime minister in the history of India.”
However, BJP leaders found nothing wrong with Modi’s utterances. The party’s spokesperson told journalists in New Delhi that the prime minister had merely called “a spade a spade,” and his remarks resonated with people’s opinions.
The Congress party’s manifesto is “more for the people of Pakistan and less for the people of India,” alleged Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP’s chief minister of northeastern Assam state. “We have interpreted the Congress manifesto in the right way.” Muslim-majority Pakistan is seen as India’s arch-rival.
