NEW DELHI: During the campaign rally in Rajasthan for Indiaโs general elections PM Modiโs speech infuriated discussions of his obvious comments against the Muslims in the country. While speaking to a massive crowd in the western state the BJP leader made controversial remarks on Muslims by calling them โinfiltratorsโ.
The PM said that if Congress is voted to power, they would distribute the wealth unfairly as the Muslims have more children. Later, the opposition accused him of hate speech and his Islamophobic ideology citing that his remarks were discriminatory.
After the speech got wide attention, on Monday over 17,400 citizens wrote letters to the Election Commission asking to take action against the leader. Modiโs party BJP has previously been accused multiple times of singling out the Muslim minority
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The remarks were made while he was talking about the Congress Manifesto, which gained criticism from the opposition leaders of other parties. The INC president Mallikarjun Kharge said their manifesto is meant for all and aimed at equality and justice. He also called the PMโs remarks a panic-filled hate speech and that he was the only PM India had who had lowered the dignity of the post.
Asaduddin Owaisi, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen president said that since 2002, the only โModi guaranteeโ has been โto abuse Muslims and get votesโ. Saket Gokhale, a member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), called his comments โhateful and divisiveโ towards the Muslim minority.
Modi has also been accused by the opposition of prioritising Muslims over other groups. Approximately 230 million Muslims live in India, a country of 1.44 billion people, some of whom are refugees. The opposition has also claimed that his comments and his party encourage Hindu nationalism.
According to the rule, candidates are not allowed to run campaigns that โincrease or create mutual hatred and cause tensionโ between communities, nor can they win over votes based on โcasteโ or โcommunal feelings.โ Modi and the BJP party have not reacted to the oppositionโs criticism. The Election Commission of India, which is in charge of conducting the polls, chose not to comment.
