’84 riots will live in Sikhs’ memories: PM Narendra Modi at Pilibhit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to the Sikh community in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday, ahead of the first phase of the of the polls on April 19. He asked whether anybody could forget what the Congress “did to the community in 1984.”
The Prime Minister confronted rival parties Congress and Samajwadi Party, recalling the tragedy that followed the assassination of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, with strong allusions to the massacre that claimed the lives of nearly 2,800 Sikhs in Delhi and over 3,350 in other parts of India.
The nation will never forget the 1984 treatment of the Sikhs by the Congress. Currently, the Samajwadi Party is in favor of the Congress. At its first election rally in Pilibhit, where it had dropped incumbent MP Varun Gandhi, the grandson of the late Indira Gandhi, in favour of turncoat and former UPA minister Jitin Prasada, Modi said, “It is the BJP alone that continues to stand in solidarity with our Sikh friends.”
“The Congress fomented the 1984 riots which led to the tragic massacres of Sikhs,” Modi said, addressing the electorate in the northern Uttar Pradesh town of Terai.
On the other side, the Sikh community is firmly supported by the BJP administration. In order to allow thousands of Sikh pilgrims to go over the border to Kartarpur Sahib, we pushed to open the Kartarpur Corridor. The Prime Minister said that December 26 will be celebrated as “Veer Bal Diwas” in honor of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh who gave their life in defense of their beliefs.
He mentioned previous Sikh initiatives carried out by the BJP-led NDA government, such as the commemoration of the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak, the 400th Parkash Purb of Guru Teg Bahadur, and the 350th Parkash Purb of Guru Gobind Singh.
The Prime Minister launched a vicious assault on the Congress, claiming that the opposition party had no problem disdaining the country’s legends.
“The Congress and SP leaders don’t have time to pay their respects at the Sardar Patel statue in Kevadia; they only have time for foreign holidays.” From the INDIA bloc parties that are adamant in splitting India, what else is there to expect? Asked Modi. In response to the opposition’s onslaught on the farmers’ problem, he said that farmers had been compelled to beg for their rightful possessions during earlier administrations.
“We have provided the region’s sugarcane farmers with their just compensation,” Modi said, criticizing the Congress and SP for their failure to attend the dedication of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
The Prime Minister said that by abstaining from the event to dedicate Lord Ram’s idol in Ayodhya, “INDIA bloc leaders disrespected Lord Ram.”
Later on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said at a different rally in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh, that the opposition INDIA group had united “not to stop Modi but to stop the development of India.”
The PM conducted his campaign today in Pilibhit, which is home to a sizable Sikh population, many of whom are immigrants from Punjab. This explains the BJP’s previous tactic of running Sikh candidate Maneka Gandhi from the area.
On the Janata Dal ticket, Maneka won Pilibhit for the first time in 1989. She was first defeated in 1991 but then triumphed in 1996. She continued to hold the constituency as an Independent in 1998 and 1999 and as a BJP candidate in 2004 and 2014.
Varun Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi’s son, won Pilibhit in 2009 and 2019.
As the Sultanpur MP currently serving, Maneka has served the maximum periods (eight terms) in the previous Lok Sabha.
The PM also conducted a road show in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, late on Tuesday night.
Sharp competition
The BSP has put up Anis Ahmad Khan and SP Bhagwat Gangwar, while the BJP has dismissed incumbent MP Varun Gandhi and nominated turncoat Jitin Prasada. Pilibhit was given to the SP as part of the Congress-UP seat-sharing agreement.
