Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to say ‘Jai Bajrangbali’ when they cast their vote to “punish” the Congress for its “culture of abuse”, as the BJP stepped up attack on the opposition party over its election manifesto promise of banning the Bajrang Dal.
Defending its stand against the right-wing Hindu outfit, the Congress stressed it is committed to check individuals and organisations that sow the seeds of division and said the Supreme Court also has called for action against “those spreading hatred”.
In the midst of protests by saffron outfits, senior Congress leader and former Karnataka chief minister Veerappa Moily, however, said there was no suggestion before the party to ban Bajrang Dal if elected to power and the Congress had mentioned action against such organisations in its manifesto in the backdrop of the apex court’s observations.
Addressing a public meeting in Uttara Kannadadistrict, Prime Minister Modi said the Congress and its leaders hate and abuse him because he has crashed their “corrupt system”.
“In this election, Congress is seeking votes in the name of its leader who is retiring…the other way in which they are seeking votes is by abusing Modi… .
“Will anyone in Karnataka accept this culture of abuse? What will you (people) do this time? Will you punish them? Will you punish the abusers?… When you press the button in the polling booth, punish them by saying ‘Jai Bajrangbali’,” he added.
Prime Minister Modi also urged the audience at all his rallies to raise the chant of ‘Bajranjbali ki Jai’ with him, besides his usual slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘ Vande Mataram’, hailing the motherland.
Modi had come down heavily on the Congress on Tuesday over its poll promise of banning the Bajrang Dal, saying the Congress in its manifesto “has decided to lock up Lord Hanuman. Initially, they locked up Prabhu Shri Ram (Lord Ram). And now they want to lock up people who say ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ (Hail Hanuman).”
On Wednesday, he made it a point at the beginning as well as at the end of his speeches to raise the slogan praising Lord Hanuman in Mulki in Dakshina Kannada district, Ankola in Uttara Kannada and Bailhongal in Belagavi.
The BJP, its Karnataka unit and party leaders also tweeted on Wednesday with the hashtag ‘HanumaBhaktaModi’.
The BJP had termed the Congress move as an “insult” to Lord Hanuman and the ‘height of appeasement”.
