Congress labelled peace-loving Hindus as terrorists: PM Modi
Wardha: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday launched a broadside against the Congress, accusing it of branding "peace-loving Hindus" as terrorists and insulting those who follow the religion.
Launching the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance's Lok Sabha poll campaign in Maharashtra at a public rally here, Modi said the Congress coined the term 'Hindu terror'.
"Leaders of that party are now scared of contesting from constituencies dominated by majority (Hindu) population," Modi said.
His barb was apparently directed at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad constituency in Kerala, besides Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
"Congress used the term 'Hindu terror'...it labelled the peace-loving Hindus as terrorists...is there a single incident of Hindu terrorism?" Modi said.
"Congress insulted Hindus...people have decided to punish it in election...hence, it is scared of fielding candidate from constituencies dominated by majority population," Modi added.
He accused the Congress and NCP of questioning the valour of soldiers and insulting them after the Pulwama terror attack and Balakot air strike. These parties spoke language that was suitable to be used in Pakistan, he added.
Modi also hit out at NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who he said, chose not to contest the Lok Sabha election after deciding to do so first.
This was because the NCP chief sensed an unfavourable situation, Modi said, taunting the latter for "shying away" from poll fight.
Modi also claimed there was a family feud in the Pawar family and that Pawar was losing his grip on the party.
Modi also termed the Congress' "abuse" that he was a "chowkidar of toilets" as an "ornament" for him.
He congratulated ISRO scientists on the successful launch of EMISAT satellite on board polar rocket PSLV-C45 from Sriharikota.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
