PM Modi roasts Cong, says former PM's video on 'priority for Muslims' demolishes its canards

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday stepped up his offensive on the Congress and said that his plainspeak on the party’s double standards has ruffled many feathers in the INDIA bloc, so much so, that they have launched a tirade at him for speaking the truth.

Addressing a poll rally in Bihar, PM Modi doubled down his attack on the grand old party for spreading lies and canards and devising a fake propaganda that former PM Manmohan Singh never spoke about ‘priority for Muslims on resources’.

He said that the Congress and INDIA bloc stood exposed after the emergence of Manmohan Singh’s old video.

“When I speak about preferential treatment for Muslims during Congress-led UPA regimes, when I call out discriminatory governance by the INDIA bloc, they start losing their temper,” said PM Modi addressing a huge public gathering in Bihar’s Araria district.

He added that the whole ecosystem of Cong-led Opposition has got agitated and incensed with him for speaking the truth and they have been after him for the past one week.

“First, they spread lies that Manmohan Singh didn’t speak about preferential treatment for Muslims. But, a video has emerged which shows what he said about Muslims. Today, Congress and its ecosystem is flustered and in panic mode over the emergence of this video,” said PM Modi over the raging controversy.

He also issued an open challenge to the Opposition to prove him wrong on Cong’s double standards and said that they must refrain from pressure tactics as this is not going to yield any results.

Earlier in the day, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shared a video of former PM Manmohan Singh, where the latter could be seen speaking at a forum and reiterating his government’s stand that “Muslims should have prior claims on the nation’s resources”.

Sharing the 2009 video, the BJP claimed this showed the Congress’ mindset in prioritising Muslims for both, reservation and resources.

In the video, Manmohan Singh could be heard saying, “Minorities, particularly the Muslim minorities, if they are poor, they have prior claims on nation’s resources. I stand by this remark.”

BJP tweeted, “This unequivocal assertion by Dr Manmohan Singh demolishes the Congress’ canards and clarifications on his previous statement. It supports our assertion that preferential treatment to Muslims is a clear policy of the Congress Party.”