New Delhi: The Congress on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'Muslim League imprint' remarks on the party's manifesto, saying he is scared over the prospect of the BJP struggling to cross the 180-seat mark in the Lok Sabha polls and has again resorted to the "same cliched Hindu-Muslim script".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that with the BJP's electoral situation worsening day by day, the RSS has started remembering its old friend -- Muslim League.
The opposition party's reaction came a day after Prime Minister Modi launched an attack on the Congress, charging that its poll manifesto bore the imprint of the Muslim League and utterances of its leaders showed hostility towards national integrity and Sanatan Dharma.
In a post on X, Kharge said, "The political and ideological ancestors of Modi and Shah supported the British and the Muslim League against the Indians in the freedom movement. Even today, they are invoking the Muslim League against the 'Congress Nyay Patra' which was prepared with the contributions of common Indians."
The ancestors of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah opposed the 1942 "Quit India" movement that was called by Mahatma Gandhi and led by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, he said.
"Everyone knows that your ancestors formed their government in Bengal, Sindh and NWFP in the 1940s along with the Muslim League. Didn't Syama Prasad Mookerjee write to the then British Governor about how the Quit India Movement of 1942 by the country and Congress should be suppressed? And for this, he was ready to support the British?" the Congress president said.
"Today Modi-Shah and their nominated president are spreading false rumours about the Congress manifesto. Modi ji's speeches smack of RSS agenda. With the BJP's electoral situation worsening day by day so much, the RSS has started remembering its old friend -- Muslim League!" Kharge said.
He asserted there is only one truth that the Congress' Nyay Patra reflects the hopes and aspirations of 140 crore people of India. Their combined strength will put an end to Prime Minister Modi's 10 years of injustice, Kharge added.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the BJP is consistently losing ground, which is why "the PM's love for Muslim League has resurfaced".
She said the Congress manifesto is being widely discussed and is a blueprint for the future of the country. "After being in power for 10 years, when the country is at the brink of elections and the prime minister has to show his report card and ask for votes, he is nervous. He has once again resorted to the same cliched Hindu-Muslim script," she said.
"The manifesto of Congress is the voice of India based on the five pillars of justice. It has an indelible imprint of the people of the country, it has the imprint of the expectations, aspirations and challenges of the crores of people who met us during the connect Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra," she said.
"It has the imprint of 10 years of broken spirits and the emergence of a new hope, it has the imprint of youth, it has the imprint of farmers, it has the imprint of women, it has the imprint of workers, it has the imprint of those people who are on the margins of society and we will ensure their participation and greater representation," Shrinate said.
The Congress' Nyay Patra has the solution to every problem that the Modi government has imposed on this country over the last 10 years, she said. "This Nyay Patra is the voice of the people, it is the voice of India," Shrinate said.
She claimed that the reality is that Narendra Modi's "love for Muslim League" is not new. "These are the same people who stood with the British even during the great struggle for Independence, and who left no opportunity to create communal rift along with the Muslim League. Remember, when in 1942, on the call of Mahatma and during the presidency of Maulana Azad, the country agitated in 'Quit India Movement' and had vowed to do or die, Syama Prasad Mookerjee was not only running his government in Bengal, and his like-minded people in Sindh and NWFP in collaboration with the Muslim League, but was also writing to the British giving advice on how to suppress this mass movement," she said.
These people have deep affection, admiration and affiliation with the likes of the Muslim League and the British, she alleged. The reality is that ever since the Congress manifesto was released, there has been panic in the BJP ranks, Shrinate claimed.
"Another big reality is that BJP's tally is dwindling very fast, the latest surveys show they are struggling to cross the 180-seat mark," she claimed. People also believe that the Congress walks the talk as today in Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, where there are Congress governments, many welfare schemes are being run keeping in mind every section of the society, he said.
The Congress has fulfilled every guarantee, Shrinate asserted. "By stealing the word guarantee, no one will listen to you, Modiji. Today the country is seeking a report on your earlier 'jumlas' - so don't be distracted and get ready to pack your bags," she said.
