Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | Rahul Gandhi has no fire but Cong playing with fire by attempting Hindu-Muslim divide, says Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has no fire while his party is playing with fire by attempting to create Hindu-Muslim divide for electoral dividends, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said.

In an interview to PTI, Singh also indicated that the BJP will implement its big-ticket plans like rolling out of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and implementing the 'One Nation One Election' push if it retains power for the third consecutive term.

The defence minister also said that he was confident that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross 400 seats and the BJP will get over 370 as these projections were made after detailed assessment of the ground situation and not made only for public consumption.

On the overall political landscape, the defence minister accused the Congress of attempting to disturb social harmony and trying to create tensions on religious lines.

"They are attempting to create Hindu-Muslim divide for electoral gains. The Congress is trying to create tensions on religious lines," he alleged.

"The Congress wants to disturb social harmony. They look at the Muslim community only as a vote bank. I have a suggestion for them -- politics should not be done only for forming governments. The aim of politics should be for nation building," he said.

"Rahul Gandhi has no fire but Congress is playing with fire," he said.

Singh said people of the country will repose their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP's tally will improve significantly based on the performance of the government in the last five years.

"Our seats will increase in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and we will get some seats in Tamil Nadu. Our account will open in Kerala as well. We are winning a good number of seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana," the senior BJP leader said.

"We will increase our tally in Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam. We are sweeping Chhattisgarh," he said, asserting that the BJP will cross the 370-mark.

Asked whether the BJP's seats in Maharashtra will come down, he did not give a direct reply but said there may be some adjustments here and there.

The BJP leader also came down hard on the Congress for its plan to 'redistribute' wealth, saying it will have disastrous consequences for the country's economy.

"The concept of redistribution of wealth will trigger recession. Argentina and Venezuela implemented it and faced disastrous consequences. The investors will lose confidence in India," Singh said.

On the BJP's big-ticket plans like implementation of the UCC and 'One Nation One Poll' push in if it retains power, Singh said it fulfils promises that it makes to the people of India.

In its manifesto, the BJP pledged to implement the UCC if it returns to power after the general elections.

It also mentioned that the party will move forward with a resolve to realise the idea of 'One Nation, One Election'.

"We always fulfil our commitments. We will never allow any question mark on our credibility and will not compromise on the country's unity and integrity. We implement whatever we say in our manifesto. We have to do whatever we say," Singh said.

"We will go for 'One Nation One Election. We will take views of every quarter, including all political parties on it," he said.

On the UCC, the defence minister said even the Constitution-makers felt a need for it, as it is mentioned in the directive principles.

'The Congress wants to create fear psychosis; they want to use the Hindu-Muslim card,' he said.

"They do not have any issue. They want to form a government by dividing the society in the name of caste, creed and religion and they have always done it," he alleged.