Responding to Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s claims, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 14 May, said he never indulged in caste politics, despite fighting many elections in Gujarat.
Addressing an election rally in eastern Uttar Pradesh, days before the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the PM said:
“I have contested a number of elections and also made others contest, but never banked on my caste. I may have been born in a extremely backward caste family, but my aim is to make India a front runner in the world.”Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The BSP president, in a rally earlier this week, accused Modi of "dramebaazi” (play-acting) with his “love for Dalits" and said he is “shedding crocodile tears.”
Speaking on the alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, PM Modi claimed that the parties, which used to abuse each other, would again be at each other's throat the moment results were out.
"The SP and BSP, in the name of caste politics, have built bungalows for their relatives, palaces, acquired benami property... This is the reason that parties which once used to abuse each other, are now compelled to forge a 'mahamilawat'," the prime minister said.
The prime minister, during his address, further threw an “open-challenge” to prove if he had amassed any asset or kept money in any foreign bank.
“My open challenge to the ‘mahamilawati’ people is that they should prove if I have acquired any benami property, built any farmhouse, bungalow or shopping complex, or deposited money in any foreign bank or purchased property abroad.Prime Minister Narendra Modi
“If they have guts, instead of hurling abuses at me, they should accept my challenge,” Modi added..
(With inputs from PTI)
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