Fuelling the ongoing debate about Jammu & Kashmir's special status, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, directly responsible for not following the ideology of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and messing up the entire Kashmir issue.
Addressing a public rally in Songadh in South Gujarat, Modi hit out at the former Prime Minister and the Congress for disregarding Sardar Patel in resolving the Kashmir issue. On Kashmir, Modi said the Congress was using the language that Pakistan wants to hear.
"Sardar Patel could successfully get Junagadh and the Nizam (of Hydrabad) to join India. Pandit Nehru insisted on keeping the Kashmir issue with him. (And) Today, we have this situation in Kashmir, where some leaders demand there be two Prime Ministers and two constitutions. This is against the country's unity and integrity as visualised by Sardar Patel," he said, adding that the BJP would follow the principles of Sardar Patel and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who sacrificed their life opposing the idea of two Prime Ministers and two Constitutions in one country.
"Today's Congress manifesto is completely opposite to Sardar Patel's thoughts. They want to remove the sedition law. How can one expect such a thing from a 125-year-old party. This means, they want the Tukde-Tukde gang to succeed in destroying the unity of the country. They are trying to do what Pakistan wants to achieve. Aren't they traitors?"
"Anyone who respects those who sacrificed their lives for Kashmir in the last 70 years, will never vote for Congress," Modi said, addressing the gathering in the local language.
Modi's remarks on Kashmir came in the backdrop of earlier statements by former J&K Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on bringing back the posts of Prime Minister in the state and breaking the state's accession with India if the BJP tried to abrogate the special status given to Jammu & Kashmir.
Raising the emotional 'son of the soil' pitch, Modi also said the Congress had troubled three sons of Gujarat’s soil, Sardar Patel, Morarji Desai and now himself.
"But I am trained by you. I will not give in. We have completed five years (in government) and on May 23rd this country will vote us back to power," he said.
Congress not for the middle class
Lashing out at the Opposition Congress for not making a mention of the middle class in its manifesto, the Prime Minister said the Congress will tax the middle class and appease its vote-bank. "There is no word on the middle class in the Congress manifesto. Instead, it says that they will tax the middle class to serve the interests of its vote-bank," he said.
Earlier in the day, Modi addressed a rally at Junagadh, where he boasted about his success in containing terrorism. "Terrorism emerged during their (Congress') time. It was nurtured during their time. But they didn't act. Did anyone stop you (from taking action). I want to say that we have decided that we will finish them (terrorists) where they are nurtured or get their resources, we will nip them in the bud."
"If you are not interested in taking action, at least do not stop the person who is intent on doing so. Our priority is the country's protection."
On the latest income-tax raids in Madhya Pradesh on Congress leaders, Modi took a jibe at the Opposition saying, "They kept saying Chowkidar Chor Hai, then how come money was recovered from a Congress leader?".
Modi has one more public meeting later in the evening at Panaji in Goa, before he returns to Delhi.