Amid the crtiticism over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark in Rajasthan’s Banswara Sunday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Bisahda village in Greater Noida Tuesday said “the PM has never thought of doing politics on the basis of Hindus, Muslims and Christians”.
At a rally in support of BJP’s Gautam Buddha Nagar candidate Mahesh Sharma, Singh said, “Our Prime Minister has never thought of doing politics on the basis of Hindus, Muslims and Christians. He has never thought of doing politics of dividing the society. He said Congress has stated in its manifesto that they will conduct a wealth survey.”
Singh said he respects former PM Dr Manmohan Singh but, “Dr Manmohan Singh himself in the meeting of the National Defence Council at the Vigyan Bhawan on December 9, 2006, had said that if anyone has the first right on the property of this country, it is the minority and especially he had said that it belongs to the Muslims.”
Manmohan Singh, at a meeting in December 2006, had flagged the need for judicious use of resources. The PMO had said that his reference to ‘first claim on resources’ “refers to all the ‘priority’ areas… including programmes for the upliftment of SCs, STs, OBCs, women and children and minorities…”