New Delhi | After Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the opposition for teasing the majority community by displaying videos of consuming meat during the month of Sawan, the Congress Friday said he is panicky ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress also accused the prime minister of trying to find a new diversion every day.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the prime minister's non-stop politicking is infantile and tiresome and claimed that the BJP is lagging behind in the polls as it was yet to put together its manifesto while the Congress has already declared one and is reaching out to the people.
Ramesh's reaction came after Prime Minister Modi, at a poll rally in Jammu and Kashmir, compared the mindset of the Congress and its allies with that of the Mughals, who he said used to derive pleasure from vandalising the temples.
He accused them of teasing the majority community by displaying videos of consuming meat during the month of Sawan to consolidate their vote banks.
"Unlike the prime minister, we have not tracked which leader ate what in which month. Here are the nutrition data points that we are tracking instead," Ramesh said in a post on X.
He said anaemia is caused by several factors, including iron deficiency, inadequate diet and other nutrient deficiencies. Between 2015-16 and 2019-21, anaemia in children under five increased by nearly 10 percentage points, he said, adding that among women aged 15 to 19, the prevalence of anaemia increased by 9.2 per cent.
In the PM's home state of Gujarat, a shocking eight out of ten children under five were found to be anaemic, he said.
"A Rs 4000-crore scheme to include breakfast for school-going children in the mid-day meal programme was vetoed by the finance ministry due to a lack of funds," he alleged.
Ramesh said the Global Health Indicator (GHI) report shows India's child wasting rate at 18.7 per cent, the highest among countries on its index. The child stunting rate is 35.5 per cent, the 15th highest in the world, he said, adding that malnutrition remains widespread under the Modi 'Sarkar', and has even gotten worse according to several data indicators.
"Every day the Prime Minister provides us with a new example of his sick mindset. The Prime Minister’s non-stop politicking is infantile and tiresome. A week before the first phase of polls, the BJP has barely put together a manifesto committee," he said.
Meanwhile, he continued, the Congress has published its manifesto, launched its door-to-door campaign to distribute their guarantee cards to every household and started its advertisement campaign.
"We are setting the agenda and taking our message to the masses. A panicky Prime Minister is trying to find a new diversion every day," Ramesh claimed.
Referring to some leaders consuming meat in the month of Sawan and making its video viral, Modi said, "In the month of Sawan, they went to the house of a person who was handed a punishment by a court and is on bail and cherished the taste of mutton. They made a video of it to tease the people of the country."
"During the month of Sawan, a person who was convicted, who is on bail, someone went to this kind of a criminal... During Sawan, they enjoyed eating mutton. Not just this, they made a video and worked to tease the people of India," he said, referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's house.
Modi said neither any law nor him prevents anyone from eating anything.
"Everyone is free to eat vegetarian or non-vegetarian food. But they had different intentions. The Mughals used to get satisfaction by vandalising temples, not by defeating kings. They used to derive pleasure out of it.
"Likewise, they tease the people of the country by releasing such videos in the month of Sawan and consolidate their vote banks," the prime minister alleged.
He said during Navratri, eating non-vegetarian food and highlighting it hurt the feelings of the people.
"These people will resort to abusing me and targeting me for saying this. But when it is beyond the point of tolerance, it is my duty in a democracy to tell the right things to the people. That is my job. I am fulfilling my duty," he said.
Modi accused these leaders of deliberately indulging in such acts "so that a big section of people gets annoyed".
"They have a Mughal mindset. They do not know that when the public gives a fitting reply, the princes of big dynasties get sidelined. Dynastic parties and corruption-ridden people should not be given opportunities," he said.