Didi asking Muslims to vote for her, reflects minority votes slipping away: PM Modi
Cooch Behar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's appeal to Muslims to vote en bloc for TMC reflects fears that minority votes are slipping out of her hand.
The prime minister said a similar appeal to Hindus by his party would have drawn the media's and Election Commission's wrath.
Asserting that Banerjee has problems with people sporting a 'Tilak' and wearing saffron, Modi said the TMC supremo's appeal to the Muslims reflects that her "minority votes are slipping out of her hands."
Claiming that a BJP wave was blowing across West Bengal and his party would form the next government, Modi said Banerjee's angry reactions indicate that she has lost the polls.
"Didi recently asked all Muslims to vote en bloc for her. It shows that the Muslim vote bank is slipping out of her hands. Had we said the same thing that all Hindus should unite, everybody would have criticised us. The EC would have sent us notices. We would have been censured," Modi said while addressing an election rally here.
The BJP on Monday approached the Election Commission seeking action against Banerjee, alleging she violated the Representation of the People's Act by asking Muslims to come together and vote for her party TMC in the state assembly polls.
Taking a dig at Banerjee's comment, rhetorically questioning whether BJP leaders predicting the party's victory were Gods or superhumans, Modi said no one needs to be superhuman to predict BJP's victory as the wave in favour of the saffron camp spoke for itself.
"There is no need to trouble God to find out who is losing and who is winning. Janata Janardhana (public), in the form of God, has given their response, it is known which way the wind is blowing," he said.
"Didi's exit is imminent. That is clear after the first two phases of polling," he added.
Modi also claimed Banerjee had hurt Bengalis' self- esteem by alleging people come to his rallies for money.
Accusing the TMC dispensation of indulging in rampant corruption, Modi said: "Didi has started a new tax in Bengal - 'Bhaipo Service Tax'!".
"For ten years, women, Dalits, backward classes, farmers and tea workers were subjected to injustices, but you chose to be a mute spectator," he alleged, adding, that has led to a movement for change.
Sensing defeat, Didi has turned jittery and was criticising everybody and everything, from EC to EVMs, the prime minister said.
Referring to some TMC leaders' claim that Banerjee might contest elections from his Lok Sabha seat Varanasi in 2024, Modi mocked the TMC boss, saying this proves that Didi has accepted her defeat and is looking for another seat.
"Didi is now looking for a place for herself outside Bengal," Modi said, who had won the Lok Sabha election twice from Varanasi in 2014 and 2019.
Modi asserted that Banerjee's claims that social schemes started by her will be stopped if BJP comes to power were "false and baseless", and said none of them will be discontinued.
"If anything is stopped, then that will be `Tolabaji' (extortion) and cut-money (bribes)," he said.
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Bhojshala case: Disputed structure built from remains of pre-existing temples, claims ASI
Indore (PTI): The ASI has told the Madhya Pradesh High Court that a massive structure dating back to the Paramara kings' rule existed at the disputed Bhojshala temple-Kamal Maula mosque complex, and the current structure was built from the remains of temples.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) made the claim on Tuesday based on its 98-day scientific survey and over 2,000-page report.
The Hindu community considers Bhojshala a temple dedicated to Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim side claims the monument as the Kamal Maula Mosque. The disputed complex is protected by the ASI.
During the hearing before Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi of the HC's Indore bench, Additional Solicitor General Sunil Kumar Jain, representing the ASI, presented a detailed account of the scientific survey conducted two years ago at the complex.
Referring to the ASI's survey report, he said, "Retrieved architectural remains, sculptural fragments, large slabs of inscriptions with literary texts, Nagakarnika inscriptions on pillars, etc, suggest that a large structure associated with literary and educational activities existed at the site. Based on scientific investigations and archaeological remains recovered during the investigations, this pre-existing structure can be dated to the Paramara period."
It can be said that the existing structure was made from the parts of earlier temples, based on scientific investigations, survey and archaeological excavations conducted, study and analysis of retrieved finds, study of architectural remains, sculptures, and inscriptions, art and sculptures, Jain said quoting the report.
Summarising the report, he also drew the court's attention to the fact that the archaeological study identifies that many architectural components, such as pillars and beams, were originally part of temple structures before being repurposed for a mosque.
"The evidence of this transition includes Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions that were damaged or hidden, alongside sculptures of deities and animals that were often mutilated or defaced," Jain contended.
The report also states that "all Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions are older than the Arabic and Persian inscriptions, indicating that users or engravers of the Sanskrit and Prakrit inscriptions occupied the place earlier".
In light of the Muslim side's earlier objections, the bench wanted to know why there were some discrepancies in the ASI's responses regarding the status of the disputed complex in the cases filed over the years.
The Additional Solicitor General argued that earlier studies of the complex involved only officials, while the current survey involved scientists and the use of advanced technologies such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
The hearing in the Bhojshala case will continue on Wednesday.
The high court has been regularly hearing four petitions and one writ appeal regarding the religious nature of the Bhojshala temple-Kamal Maula mosque complex since April 6.
