Modi takes 'Muslim League imprint' jibe at Cong's manifesto, Sonia rakes up 'dictatorship' barb

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi locked horns while addressing a rally in UP's Saharanpur and Rajasthan's Jaipur, respectively on Saturday.

Modi tore into Congress' manifesto, which was released on Friday in New Delhi. He said that their manifesto bore the imprints of the Muslim League, and said the party is completely cut off from the hopes and aspirations of today's India.

"The kind of manifesto released by Congress yesterday proves that today's Congress is completely cut off from the hopes and aspirations of today's India. The same thinking is reflected in the Congress manifesto which was there in the Muslim League during the freedom movement," Modi said in Saharanpur, which will vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19.

“The Congress manifesto completely bears the imprint of the Muslim League and whatever part of it is left is completely dominated by the leftists,” he added.

Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, on the other hand, accused Modi of tearing apart the country's dignity and democracy and claimed that various tactics were being used to force opposition leaders to join the BJP.

"Today our country's democracy is in danger. Democratic institutions are being destroyed and a conspiracy is being hatched to change our Constitution," she claimed.

"This is a dictatorship and we all will give a reply to this," she added.

"Considering himself great, Modi ji is tearing apart the dignity of the country and its democracy," Sonia Gandhi said.

She also said that the despite ruling for the last 10 years, the BJP has left no stone unturned to promote unemployment, inflation, economic crisis, and inequality.

Addressing the event earlier, the party's national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra referred to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's arrest by federal agencies to claim that the opposition was under attack under the BJP rule at the Centre.

"Unemployment and inflation at peak and paper leaks are happening in every state. There no one to listen to the poor and the farmers," she said.
Priyanka Gandhi also said, "We have named our manifesto 'Nyay Patra'. This manifesto is not just a list of announcements that we will forget after the elections. This is the voice of the nation that wants justice.