PM Modi Accuses Rahul Gandhi of Dismissing Cultural Hindu Beliefs for Votes
News Mania / Agnibeena Ghosh/21 April 2024
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during an election rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha, accusing him of deriding his religious practices in Dwarka, Gujarat, earlier this year solely for political gain. Modi asserted that Gandhi, whom he referred to as the ‘Shehzada of the Congress’, had belittled his underwater prayers in Dwarka, undermining millennia-old cultural beliefs for the sake of his ‘vote bank’.
“Archaeologists have found Dwarka in the sea. I went underwater and performed a puja at Dwarka…but the Congress’s Shehzada says there is nothing worth praying for in the ocean. These people have dismissed our culture, our beliefs that are thousands of years old, only for their vote bank,” Modi proclaimed, lambasting Gandhi for his disparaging remarks.
Furthermore, Modi directed his ire towards Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi’s ally in Uttar Pradesh, questioning Yadav’s allegiance to his Yaduvanshi lineage while aligning himself with a party that allegedly insults it. “And I want to ask those who called themselves Yaduvanshi in Bihar, if you are a true Yaduvanshi then how are you sitting with a party that is insulting it,” Modi interrogated, highlighting the contradictions in Yadav’s political alliances.
The animosity between Modi and Gandhi stems from a previous incident when Gandhi took a dig at Modi for performing an underwater puja in the remains of the ancient submerged city of Lord Dwarka. Gandhi had ridiculed Modi’s religious rituals, diverting attention from pressing national issues such as farmer distress, inflation, and unemployment. “The issues of farmers, inflation, unemployment, and agniveers are the most prominent in the country today, but on TV channels, you will never see discussion on these issues. Instead, TV channels show Modi ji all 24 hours; at times he goes under the sea to do a puja and a TV camera goes with him, then he takes a flight on a seaplane,” Gandhi had remarked, taking a swipe at Modi’s publicity stunts.
In addition to targeting Gandhi and Yadav, Modi criticized their political agendas, accusing them of peddling nepotism, corruption, and appeasement in their election campaigns. He asserted that their focus on attacking his faith and cultural practices only served to distract from their own shortcomings and failures.
Modi also sought to align himself with the aspirations of marginalized communities, particularly Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC), claiming to champion their cause and fulfill the dreams of social justice envisioned by historical figures such as Jyotiba Phule, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, and Chaudhary Charan Singh.
