Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview with News18’s Rubika Liyaquat, addressed the allegations surrounding his recent statements during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Modi claimed that he did not directly mention ‘Muslims’ while discussing ‘infiltrators’ and ‘those with more children’ in a speech. He firmly stated, “The day I indulge in ‘Hindu-Muslim’ rhetoric, I will no longer be fit for public office.”
However, an investigation by BOOM into Modi’s speech delivered in Rajasthan’s Banswara on April 21, 2024, revealed that he did indeed reference Muslims while discussing a comment attributed to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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Modi stated, “And back when they were running the government, they had said Muslims have the first claim to the country’s resources.” This was followed by remarks implying a link between Muslims, infiltrators, and those with more children, insinuating that the Congress party would favor these groups.
In response to questioning by Liyaquat regarding these remarks, Modi expressed surprise, denying any direct reference to Muslims. He maintained, “I neither mentioned Muslim, nor Hindu.”
BOOM’s fact-checking accessed the speech video on Modi’s YouTube channel, confirming his explicit mention of Muslims in relation to resource allocation during the Congress government’s tenure.
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Click here to view an archive of the tweet by News18 containing the excerpt from the interview in question.
At the 36:50 mark in the video, Modi is heard saying the following:
And back when they were running the government, they had said Muslims have the first claim to the country’s resources. This means, after collecting people’s possessions who are they going to distribute them to? They will distribute them to those who have more kids. They will distribute them to the infiltrators.”
At the 37:20 mark, he goes on to state the following:
“This is what the Congress manifesto says, that they will do a survey of mothers and daughters’ gold, get information on them, and then distribute these possessions. And they will distribute to them – for whom the Manmohan Singh government had said, that Muslims have the first claim to resources. (sic)”
Furthermore, Modi’s speeches in Rajasthan’s Ajmer and Barmer featured comparisons between the Congress’ manifesto and that of the Muslim League, further exacerbating communal tensions.
These remarks by Modi align with the BJP’s narrative portraying Muslims as intruders, resonating with instances where the party’s social media content faced backlash for promoting divisive rhetoric. Both BJP’s official Instagram account and Karnataka’s BJP handle were criticized for posts targeting Muslims and the Congress, with some content being flagged for violating electoral conduct guidelines.
This story is republished from Boom as part of the Shakti Collective. Read the original story here.