Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that false narratives were being created around his government’s farm laws, the Citizenship Amendment Act and other legislations to create political instability in the country.
While speaking at an event to mark the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 41st foundation day, Modi claimed that “deliberate politics and a very big conspiracy” were behind such narratives. “Several rumors are being spread in the country,” the prime minister said. “Sometimes it is said that the Constitution will be changed. On other occasions, it is said that reservation will be abolished. These are all blatant lies.”
Modi alleged that these lies were being propagated for political gains and by those who “can’t accept their defeat”, according to The Indian Express. He urged BJP workers to be alert against the “false narratives” and keep the people informed.
Thousands of farmers have been protesting outside Delhi since November, demanding that the Centre repeal the three laws that open up the country’s agriculture markets to private companies. The Citizenship Amendment Act, which made only undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship, had also triggered protests across the country in 2019.
The prime minister also criticised the opposition for calling the BJP an “election-winning machine”. “The truth is that the BJP is a campaign that has won the hearts of the people,” he added. “Those who call the BJP an election-winning machine will not understand the aspirations of the people of India.”
The prime minister’s remarks came amid voting for Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry.
“Parties who began with local aspirations became family-based parties later,” Modi said, without naming any political outfit. “These parties, who were wearing a mask of secularism, are finally being unmasked!”
Modi said that BJP stood for the defeat of dynasty-based politics. “It [the BJP] means an opportunity to able leadership,” he said. “It means transparency and good governance. It means ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikaas, sabka Vishwas [development for all, with everyone’s trust].”
The prime minister claimed that the BJP believed that the country is bigger than the party. “This tradition has continued since Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee and runs till date,” he added.
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