India News | Modi Takes Swipe After Mamata's Show of Support for Akhilesh; Reaches out to Muslim Women

Lucknow, Feb 8 (PTI) After the public show of support by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took a jibe at the SP for inviting a leader who had called the people of UP ''goondas'' (goons) to campaign in the UP Assembly elections.

With campaigning coming to an end for the first phase of polls covering 58 seats in 11 western Uttar Pradesh districts this evening, Modi, while addressing a virtual rally, said that the rival parties are daydreaming about the division of votes in the region but people will defeat them again like in the past.

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Touching on the issue of triple talaq, Modi also reached out to Muslim voters, especially women, saying they gave him the strength to end this practice and will vote for the 'lotus', BJP's poll symbol.

Modi was addressing the rally for assembly seats in Rampur, Badaun and Sambhal that will go to vote in the second phase of polling on February 14.

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''Leaders of other states, who have termed people of UP as 'goondas' (goons), they are being called by them (Samajwadi Party) to campaign for them," he said without taking any names hours after a press conference by Banerjee and Yadav.

"Had they cared for the honour of the people of UP, they would have not called them. But, they do not care for UP and the honour of the people of UP," Modi said, launching a scathing attack at the SP and the Trinamool Congress.

Banerjee, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Modi, had during the West Bengal polls last year accused the BJP of trying to capture power in her state with the help of “goons from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh”.

The Trinamool Congress had defeated a spirited bid by the BJP to gain power in the state where the saffron party was catapulted to the position of the main challenger after the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

"I want to ask that if any daughter comes back home (following triple talaq), will the father, mother or the brother not feel pained. I ended the triple talaq, and assured lakhs of fathers, mothers and Muslim brothers that their daughter will not come back home all of a sudden.

“It was out of concern for the entire family, and not for votes. I have thought about your happiness. Despite facing criticism of the work I have done, I have worked for your welfare," he said

Modi said he was happy that some wise people from the Muslim community stood by him.

"My Muslim mothers and sisters gave me immense courage and strength. And, it was because of that, I was able to free you from this problem," Modi said.

Muslims are present in large numbers in Western UP.

He added that bringing the marriageable age of the girls on a par with that of boys will benefit the Muslim girls significantly.

"Now, when such work is done, the Muslim girls opt for the lotus (BJP)", he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)