‘I will sacrifice my life for security of mothers and sisters’
Jagtial (Telangana): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘fight against Shakti’ remark sparked a controversy on Monday and drew a strong retort from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said every mother and daughter was a form of “Shakti” for him and that he will sacrifice his life for their security.
Addressing poll rallies in Telangana and Karnataka, the Prime Minister also said the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be a fight between destroyers and worshippers of ‘Shakti’.
In his first rally in Jagtial in Nizamabad in Telangana after the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls schedule, Modi said the nation dedicated the success of Chandrayaan-3 last year to ‘Shiv Shakti’ but the Opposition parties are talking about destroying “Shakti”.
“On Sunday in Mumbai, there was an INDI alliance rally after the announcement of the schedule for elections. They announced their manifesto at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, and said their fight was against ‘Shakti’. For me, every mother and every daughter is a form of ‘Shakti’. Mothers and sisters, I worship you as ‘Shakti’. I am Bharat Maa’s ‘pujari’,” he asserted.
“INDI alliance in its manifesto announced to finish, destroy Shakti. I accept their challenge. I will sacrifice my life for the security of mothers and sisters.”
At the rally in Shivamogga in Karnataka, Modi said, “If they (INDI alliance) want to destroy ‘Shakti’, then worshipping ‘Shakti’ is our resolve.”
The Prime Minister said that when he heard about the fight against Shakti from Shivaji Park, he wondered how it would have hurt Shiv Sena supremo late Bal Thackeray’s soul. The Prime Minister noted that the remark was made at Shivaji Park where every child grows up with the mantra of ‘Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji’.
“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (17th-century Maratha ruler) took the blessings of Goddess Tulja Bhavani and marched for the freedom of India.
“He was a Shakti worshipper. And at the same Shivaji Park, it was announced to eliminate Shakti,” Modi said.
Modi also took a swipe at former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav Thackeray, Sena (UBT) head, who was present when Gandhi made the speech. “And who were there on the dais? What would be happening to Bal Thackeray’s soul?” he asked.
Noting that he was a worshipper of ‘Shakti’, the feminine form of God just as crores of Hindus, he said it was ‘Shakti’ which gave him the energy when he entered the public life.
Underlining that every woman of the country is a reflection of ‘Shakti’, Modi said his government always gave preference to ‘Nari Shakti’ or ‘women power’.
Modi further said an attack on ‘Shakti’ means attack on women oriented programmes and Mother India.
“Emergence of Shakti destroys terrorism and atrocities. Now the INDI alliance and Congress have challenged this Shakti. Every woman, daughter and sister will give a befitting reply to the Congress. They will understand what it means to challenge Shakti.”
While several BJP leaders targeted Rahul Gandhi over his remark, the Congress party also hit back at Modi over his attack on the former party chief.
In a post on X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla lashed out at Rahul Gandhi, saying it is very clear from his comments that his party is fighting against Hinduism. He has showed his “hatred” for women power and all forms of its manifestation, Poonawalla said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said Rahul Gandhi neither understands Hindu religion nor democracy.
I spoke about power of unrighteousness: Rahul
New Delhi: Under attack for his ‘fight against shakti’ remark made at a rally in Mumbai, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday clarified that he was not talking about any religious power but the ‘shakti’ of unrighteousness, corruption and falsehood.
He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of twisting his words and said he was speaking about the power of which Modi was wearing the mask.
“Modi ji does not like my words; he always tries to change their meaning by twisting them in some way or the other because he knows that I have spoken a solemn truth.
“The ‘shakti’ (power) that I mentioned, Modi ji is the mask of that power and we are fighting against it. It is such a power that today it has captured India’s voice, India’s institutions, the CBI, I-T, ED, Election Commission, the media, Indian industry and the entire constitutional structure of India in its clutches,” he said in post in Hindi on X.
Using the same ‘shakti’ (power), he alleged, Prime Minister Narendra Modi waives loans worth thousands of crores of Indian banks, while an Indian farmer commits suicide when he is unable to repay a loan of a few thousand rupees.
“The same ‘shakti’ (power) is given India’s ports, India’s airports, while India’s youth is given the gift of ‘Agniveer’ that breaks their courage. While saluting the same power day and night, the country’s media suppresses the truth.
“Narendra Modi ji, who is a slave of the same power, imposes GST on the poor of the country without controlling inflation and auctions the country’s wealth to increase the strength of that power.
“I recognise that power and so does Narendra Modi ji. It is not any kind of religious power, it is the power of unrighteousness, corruption and falsehood. That’s why whenever I raise my voice against it, Modi ji and his machine of lies gets upset and enraged,” Gandhi said.