Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Hours after Narendra Modi evoked Lord Ram at a public meeting in Faizabad, near Ayodhya, on Monday the Congress lashed out at the BJP saying the party is using such tactics for gaining cheap electoral gains.
“For BJP, he (Lord Ram) is fodder for cheap electoral gain, for us he is a revered figure,” party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.
He added, "The frustration, the desperation and the fear is writ large on the face of BJP and on Modi and that is the reason why you are having desperate extreme tactics."
The party also raised the issue of Modi`s statements on Bangladeshi immigrants.
In a separate communication, Congress also protested against the distribution of "objectionable" and "malicious" booklets in Rahul Gandhi`s Parliamentary constituency Amethi by BJP and Aam Aadmi Party as well as gathering of volunteers from RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal to "destabilise" the polls and asked the EC to put preventive measures in place, PTI reported.
Addressing reporters on Sunday, Singhvi attacked Modi saying that the Gujarat CM presents an exaggerated picture of the state model which is far away from reality.
The Congress leader also termed Modi as a `master of propaganda`.
Meanwhile, the EC has sough a report from the Faizabad district magistrate on Modi`s speech and stage backdrop, UP chief electoral officer Umesh Sinha said.
He added, "District administration and observers are investigating this. We have asked for a report on this matter. Let the report come in and then only we can make a decision."
However, Sinha said, "The degree of punishment, if any, would be decided on the recommendations of the district authorities."
Usage of religious symbols are banned during election campaigns.
Earlier in the day, with the portrait of Lord Ram providing the backdrop, Modi asked people `living` in the birthplace of Lord Ram to teach Congress and those who support it a lesson for not fulfilling electoral promises.
Modi skirted any reference to his party`s pet theme of building Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, which is part of the district and epicentre of Ram Mandir movement, but made several references to Lord Ram to exhort people to support BJP and defeat Congress, SP and BSP.
"This is the land of Lord Ram where people believed in `pran jaye par vachan na jaye` (one may lose life but cannot break promise). Can you pardon those who broke their promises?," the BJP prime ministerial candidate asked during the rally, referring to the ruling party`s unfulfilled promise of providing 10 crore jobs to people.
He also took on SP, which is in power in UP, and Mayawati-led BSP, saying they are enemies in Lucknow but friends in Delhi.
"They save the government of `maa-beta (Sonia-Rahul)`. The Congress saves them from CBI. It protects netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) from CBI. They believe in you scratch my back, I scratch yours.
I, from this land of Lord Ram, promise you that I will fight corruption my whole life. Where do I get the strength to speak this? I have lived this my whole life," Modi said.
With agency inputs
