The Congress said yesterday that with voters in 302 Lok Sabha constituencies having already exercised their franchise at the end of the third phase of election, the message was that the Bharatiya Janata Party government was at the “exit door”.
Party leader Jairam Ramesh said that the campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP shows that they have “a sense of frustration and anger”.
He said people have made up their minds that “time has come for Nyay (justice)” and to end the “injustice” against all sections including women, Dalits and tribals.
“It is clear after polling in 302 constituencies that a Congress-led government will get the verdict. The campaign is showing what must be crossing Modi’s mind that what will happen to him after elections. All norms are being violated in the campaign,” he said.
He hoped that Election Commission will take action against Modi over his party’s complaints.
“So far they have not taken action against the prime minister. They have taken action against other political leaders. We expect that the prime minister is treated the same way as other political leaders have been treated,” he said.
He said if the Election Commission does not take action, “we will explore other avenues and options but we have provided and we will continue to provide video evidence of how the prime minister has repeatedly violated the Model Code of Conduct - the latest example being today in Gujarat”.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray claimed there was “no wave now like 2014” for Modi, and the BJP and its leaders are now wondering what to do.
“Modi has said nothing about the promises he made in 2014. Instead, he grabs any issue to seek votes. Now, he’s asking for votes in the name of the Easter Sunday terror strikes in Sri Lanka,” Thackeray said at a rally in south Mumbai’s Kalachowky area.
Alleging Modi has “only said lies and made fake propaganda” in the past five years, Thackeray showed a picture of the prime minister posing with a family ostensibly brought above the poverty line in a government ad.
To prove his point, Thackeray called on stage the entire family - amidst thunderous applause - and said their photo on a social media site was “simply picked up” and the prime minister’s photo pasted alongside to produce the fake advertisement for the government campaign.
“Here they are - recognise them all. It was their family album photo which they had posted on a social site. Compare them with the picture in the Modi ad,” Thackeray said as the crowds roared their approval.
The recent open support expressed by top industrialists and bankers to Mumbai South Congress candidate Milind Deora “is a hint to the entire country” that the BJP government is on its way out, he claimed.
“This is unprecedented. I don’t recall any such instance of the past when such top industrialists have come out and openly endorsed a particular candidate. Mark my words, this is not limited to just one constituency, but it’s a message to the whole country that Narendra Modi will not become the prime minister again,” Thackeray claimed.
Charging the BJP with making fraudulent memorandums of understanding during the Make In India expo held in Mumbai over three years ago, catching local businessmen and creating inflated investment documents, Thackeray rued how Mumbai entrepreneur Amol Yadav - who designed and built a passenger aircraft on his building terrace - was promised huge land and investments of around Rs35,000 crore, but nothing came out of it and now he’s preparing to leave for the US.
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