'Congress will bulldoze Ram temple if it comes to power,' says Modi in UP's Barabanki
Barabanki (UP), May 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday here alleged that the Congress will run a bulldozer on the Ram temple if the INDIA bloc comes to power.
Addressing an election rally, Modi said the Congress is planning to challenge the Supreme Court's order on the Ram temple once it comes to power and will eventually demolish the temple.
"If the SP-Congress comes to power, it will send Ram Lalla once again to a tent, and a bulldozer will be rolled over the temple," he said.
Modi also accused the Congress of being responsible for Partition. He said what used to be thought of as impossible – that the country could ever be divided — was done by the party.
"When the freedom struggle was going on and the talk of dividing the country used to come up, every person used to wonder can the country be divided? Did it happen or not? They did it or not? They can go to any extent. Their track record is such," he said referring to the Congress.
"The country does not matter to them. For them, the game is for family and power," he added.
The PM was in Barabanki to seek support for party candidate Rajrani Rawat who is contesting from the Lok Sabha seat.
He thanked the people for voting for him in the previous elections, saying it was their vote which ended the "500-year-long" wait for the Ram Mandir.
"People from Barabanki walked on foot to Ayodhya with bricks with 'Ram' inscribed on them. The youngsters, the first-time voters, will not understand the 500 years of wait … Generations after generations of our ancestors struggled and sacrificed," he said.
He alleged that Congress under its regime sent Ram Lalla to a "tent" and when it, along with the Samajwadi Party, was invited to the temple's consecration ceremony, refused to attend it.
"There is so much poison in their belly...don't know what enmity they have with Ram," Modi said.
In Barabanki, there are 13 candidates in the fray with the main contest restricted between Tanuj Punia of the Congress and BJP's Rajrani Rawat.
Punia is the son of Congress leader PL Punia, a former MP from Barabanki (SC) Lok Sabha seat.
In March, a day after an explicit video allegedly involving him surfaced online, sitting BJP MP Upendra Singh Rawat, who was fielded again by the party, said he would not contest any election until proven innocent.
Subsequently, the party gave the ticket to Rajrani Rawat.
Barabanki will vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the state on May 20.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
