"Modi Ji's mental health has been disturbed": Chhattisgarh former CM Bhupesh Baghel

Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh) [India], April 24 : Congress candidate from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat and former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remark on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said that PM Modi's mental health has been disturbed adding that no balanced person would speak as he did.
Baghel's statement comes after PM Modi at an election rally in Rajasthan linked Congress's manifesto plans with a 2006 statement of former PM Manmohan Singh on giving priority to minorities on the country's resources.
PM Modi, while addressing a public rally on April 21 charged Congress and said if Congress is voted to power, then they will conduct a wealth survey to seize the assets of people and take away their life-long savings. PM Modi said your mangalsutra will not be safe under Congress rule.
While stressing the importance of 'Mangalsutra' (traditional Indian jewellery worn by married Indian women) for women, he said that no government has the power to snatch it away."
"When it was their government, they had said that Muslims have the first right over the country's wealth. Who will you distribute after collecting the wealth, distribute it to those who have more children, and distribute it to infiltrators? Will the money of your hard labour be given to infiltrators, is this acceptable to you? Congress manifesto is saying that they will calculate the gold of mothers, and sisters and then redistribute the wealth to those whom the Manmohan Singh government had said that the first right to resources is of Muslims. Brothers, sisters, this thinking of urban Naxals, my mothers, sisters, they will not allow even your Mangalsutra to remain in your possession, they will go to this extent," PM Modi said.
PM Modi was referring to Manmohan Singh's remarks made in December 2006 that the minorities, particularly Muslim minorities, should have first claim on the country's resources.
Talking to ANI, Baghel said, "Now these statements are being made continuously after the manifesto came and after he made remarks on Manmohan's Singh, it is clear that Prime Minister's mental health has been disturbed. Modi Ji's mental health has been disturbed. You're only picking one word from the speech of Manmohan Singh ji, you must read the full sentence atleast. In that, he mentioned everyone and you're only talking about one section of the society. So, it means you've nothing to say."
"There is no mention of the Muslim League in the Congress manifesto. Secondly, it is not mentioned that the Hindu's mangalsutra should be distributed to everyone. This is like disrupting the mental balance. It means that the BJP is losing badly, only then they will talk like this. Otherwise, no balanced person would talk like Modi ji has said", Baghel added.
When asked about the challenges for him in the Rajnandgaon constituency as the BJP has a stronghold, Baghel said, "Election is a challenge in itself and no one can deny it. There will be elections in a democracy. So there is nothing to shy away from or be afraid of. It is a matter of combating it. So this is a challenge and if this is a challenge then it is accepted."
BJP has fielded Santosh Panday from Rajnandgaon. In 2019, he defeated Congress' Bholaram Sahu by a margin of 1,11, 966 votes.
Notably, BJP has never lost the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat since the formation of Chhattisgarh in 2000, except for a parliamentary bypoll in 2007 when it was defeated by the Congress.
Hitting out at the BJP over their remark calling the Congress 'anti-Sanatan', the former CM said that the ruling government is concerned with power and money, not with religion.
"There is no point in them giving certificates. I'm asking this, if you are a cow devotee, you are Sanatani, then why did you take a donation of Rs 250 crore from the exporter of cow meat? This means that the flags and the banners that have been put up by the BJP have been made available from the donation of the beef sellers. Then where is your ideology? You are concerned with power and money, not with religion," Baghel said.
Expressing confidence in winning the elections from the Rajnandgaon seat, the Congress leader said, "Certainly Congress will win. Everyone is fighting together and will win by a huge margin."
This year in the Rajnandgaon constituency, Santosh Pandey (BJP), who won the previous election as well and Bhupesh Baghel (Congress), who served as the 3rd Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, are contesting against each other.
The Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency is scheduled to vote on April 26, 2024.
Speaking on the issues he is taking to the public, Baghel said, "There are three things. We are getting the benefits of the work that the Congress government did for 5 years in Chhattisgarh. No one expected that the Congress government would not form the government in assembly elections. When the government was not formed, people felt cheated. It felt that we made some mistake and a big change has happened in everyone's standard of living in the last five years".
"Secondly, you are charging fees in the business, PSE, Swami Aatmanand schools, which is having a big impact on unemployment among the youth. It is harming the parent. You are continuously doing raids and the prices are also increasing. They promised to give gas cylinder at Rs 400, you put up hoardings worth Rs 18 lakh in the entire state but there is not a single person in the entire state who has got the benefit of housing", he added.
"The third big thing is that today the public is worried due to inflation and unemployment. Every section of the society is struggling with it. So, in such time people are attracted towards Congress Manifesto of Nyay", the former CM added.
The Congress leader claimed that the BJP has stopped raising the slogan of '400 paar' after the first phase of the elections as there is a discussion that they will be limited to 200 seats.
"Bad news is coming from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh," he said.
Polling for the Lok Sabha in Chhattisgarh is being held in three phases. While only a lone seat polled in the opening phase on April 19, the remaining 10 Lok Sabha constituencies will go to polls on April 26 and May 7.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won 9 of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state, while the Congress had to settle for just 2 seats.