"They will run bulldozer on Ram Temple": PM Modi blasts Congress-SP combine in UP's Barabanki

UTTAR PRADESH: Invoking the sensational claim of expelled Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam to gun for the grand old party and its INDIA ally, the Samajwadi Party (SP); Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they would run a bulldozer over the Ram Temple in Ayodhya if elected in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a mega public meeting on Friday at Barabanki in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, ahead of the fifth phase of polling for the 18th Lok Sabha on May 20, PM Modi said, "If the Congress, SP and their INDIA partners come to power, our Ram Lalla would have to return to the tent again as they would run a bulldozer over the Ram Mandir. They should take lessons from Yogi-ji (Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) on where to run bulldozers and where not to."

Speaking to ANI earlier, Acharya Krishnam dropped a bombshell, claiming that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had planned to overturn the landmark judgement, settling the decades-old title dispute and paving the way for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Stepping up his onslaught on the Congress-SP combine in the state, PM Modi said, "The Congress and the Samajwadi Party have become slaves to appeasement politics. And, when Modi uncovers the truth before the people, they accuse me of creating a Hindu-Muslim divide."

Asserting that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was on course to record a hat-trick of wins and return to power at the Centre, PM Modi said, "June 4 (counting day) is not too far away now.

All doubts will be cleared, and the entire country and the world will know when we score a hat-trick of wins and return for a third term at the Centre." Gung-ho on support and electoral blessings from women voters, he said one-half of the country's population has been with the BJP since the Centre abolished the Triple Talaq.

"The vote bank of these INDI parties is also waking up to the truth now. Our (Muslim) mothers and sisters are happy with the abolition of the Triple Talaq and are with us," PM Modi said. Urging people to vote overwhelmingly in Favour of the BJP and its NDA allies in the interest of the development of their respective constituencies in the state, PM Modi said, "You deserve MPs who take your grievances to the Parliament and work towards making your lives better.

We need MPs who would put in sincere efforts to develop the constituencies that you belong to and not waste their five-year term abusing Modi. And the only way to ensure that happens is to vote for Lotus (the BJP's electoral symbol)."

"Can you achieve the speed of a 1,000 CC bike with a 100 CC engine? If you want rapid development, vote for a strong and decisive government. Only the BJP can deliver on such a government," PM Modi added. He would hold a public rally at Mumbai's Shivaji Park later in the day.