PM Modi.
Credit: PTI Photo
Pilibhit (UP): With the Navratri festival beginning on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country should remember how the I.N.D.I.A. bloc 'has taken a vow to destroy Shakti' and those who worship the Goddess will never forgive the Congress and its allies.
Nine forms of Goddess Durga or Shakti are worshipped during the nine-day Chaitra Navratri festival.
"Today, on the first day of Navratri, I am also reminding the country how the I.N.D.I.A. bloc has vowed to destroy 'Shakti'. The 'Shakti' before which we bow our heads, the leaders of the Congress are speaking about uprooting that 'Shakti'," Modi said at an election rally, again targeting the opposition over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'fight against Shakti' remarks.
During the election campaign, Modi and the BJP have been accusing the Congress and the opposition alliance of being 'anti-Hindu', repeatedly attacking them over Rahul Gandhi's remarks, the comments of DMK leaders against Sanatan Dharma and for staying away from the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
The opposition has, in turn, alleged that the ruling party was resorting to communal polarisation as it has nothing to show in its report card.
"Pilibhit's land is blessed by Mother Yashwantri Devi. This is the origin place of Adi Ganga Maa Gomti."
"Today, the 'Shakti', who is being worshipped in the country, that 'Shakti' has been insulted by the Congress... No worshipper of 'Shakti' will forgive the I.N.D.I.A. bloc for this insult," Modi said.
At an I.N.D.I.A. bloc rally in Mumbai last month, Rahul Gandhi had said, "In the Hindu religion, there is a word called 'Shakti' .… We are fighting against a 'Shakti'." Later, Gandhi accused the prime minister of twisting his words.
"The 'Shakti' 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 had said on X.
"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," the Congress leader had added.
Addressing an election rally in Saharanpur on April 6, Modi had said that it is the country's misfortune that leaders of the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc are openly talking about 'fighting against Shakti'.
"In every corner of Hindustan, worshipping Shakti is a part of our natural spiritual journey."
"But it is the misfortune of the country that the leaders of I.N.D.I.A. openly throw a challenge that their fight is against Shakti. Can anyone finish Shakti, and challenge the power of Shakti? And, those who made an effort to destroy Shakti, what happened to them? It is mentioned in history and the Puranas," Modi had said.
Eight parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh -- Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur, and Pilibhit -- will vote in the first phase of general elections on April 19.