Votebank ka virus: PM Modi attacks Congress for opposing new Waqf law

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused the Congress of spreading “votebank ka virus” for opposing the recently passed Waqf (Amendment) Act and said the opposition party was treating the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community as “second-class citizens”.

Speaking after inaugurating a commercial flight from Hisar to Ayodhya and laid the foundation stone of the new terminal building at the Maharaja Agrasen Airport, Modi said: “The Congress has become the destroyer of Constitutions. Dr BR Ambedkar wanted to bring in equality, but the Congress spread the virus of votebank politics. Babasaheb wanted every poor, every backward to be able to live with dignity and with their head held high, to have dreams and complete them,” PM Modi said in his address at a public gathering in Hisar.

“In the time of the Congress, the doors of the bank used to not even open for SC, ST OBC; loan, welfare everything was just a dream, but now the biggest beneficiaries of Jan Dhan accounts are SC, ST brothers and sisters,” he said.

He said there were “lakhs of hectares of land” under the Waqf Board, but the properties and assets have not been used properly to help the needy. “There are lakhs of hectares of land in the name of Waqf. If benefits from Waqf properties had been given to the needy, they would have benefited. But land mafia benefited from these properties,” the Prime Minister said.

He said with the amendment in the Waqf law the “loot of land” would stop. “The loot of the poor will stop with this amended Waqf law. Under the new Waqf law, land or property belonging to any adivasi (tribal community) cannot be touched by the Waqf Board. Poor Muslims and Pasmanda Muslims will get their rights. This is real social justice,” Modi said.

‘Congress humiliated Ambedkar’

The PM accused the Congress of “humiliating” Babasaheb Ambedkar and trying to erase his memory, noting that the party had fought elections against him. “We should not forget what the Congress did to Babasaheb. It humiliated him while he was alive. The party made him lose elections twice. The Congress even tried to erase his memory and tried to destroy his ideas forever. Dr Ambedkar was the protector of the Constitution, but the Congress has become the destroyer of the Constitution,” Modi said.

He said that the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) were treated like “second class citizens” by the Congress. “While Congress leaders enjoyed luxuries like swimming pools, only 16 out of every 100 households in villages had access to piped water and among those affected the most were SCs, STs, and OBCs. In just six to seven years, our government provided water connections to over 12 crore rural households. Now, 80 out of every 100 rural homes have access to clean water, and we are committed to taking that number to 100%,” he said.

Backing the call for implementing a Uniform Civil Code, just as it was implemented in BJP-led Uttarakhand, Modi said, “The Congress turned the Constitution into a mere tool for gaining power. Whenever they felt that power slipping from their hands, they trampled upon the Constitution, just as they did during the Emergency. The spirit of the Constitution clearly says that there must be a common civil code for all citizens, which I call a secular civil code. But the Congress never implemented it. In Uttarakhand, we have implemented a secular civil code but the Congress continues to oppose it.”

New terminal in two years

In line with his commitment to make air travel safe, affordable and accessible to all, Modi laid the foundation stone of Maharaja Agrasen Airport’s new terminal building to be built at an estimated cost of over ₹410 crore. It would include a state-of-the-art passenger terminal, a cargo terminal and an ATC building. The project is targeted to be completed in two years.

An official statement said that the flight from Hisar to Ayodhya would operate twice a week, and three flights in a week would head to Jammu, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Chandigarh, marking a leap in Haryana’s aviation connectivity.