PM Modi Lambasts Congress Over 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, Says He Opened Files on Rioters | Top Quotes

Gurdaspur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday attacked the Congress over 1984 anti-Sikh riots, while stressing that he was the one who opened files on the rioters so as to ensure the guilty were punished, news agency PTI reported. Addressing a poll rally in Punjab's Gurdaspur, he also referred to the role of Sikhs in the agitation for Ram temple in Ayodhya. PM Modi also alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann cannot take any decisions on his own and had to go to the Tihar Jail in Delhi to take orders.

Here are the key points from PM Modi's fiery speech in Gurdaspur:

• INDI bloc allies abuse each other in Punjab, PM Modi said.
• Congress party's 'royal family' removed Amarinder Singh from the chief minister's post when he refused to obey orders 
• 'Delhi ke darbari' are running Punjab. The Punjab CM cannot take any decision on his own.
• His 'maalik' went to jail and the Punjab government started shutting down," the prime minister said, referring to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejrwal in the excise policy-linked money laundering case.

• To take new orders and run the government, the CM (Mann) had to go to the Tihar jail" 
• "He (Mann) had to present his report card to him (Kejriwal)", Modi said while canvassing for BJP Lok Sabha polls candidates Dinesh Babbu (Gurdaspur), Taranjit Singh Sandhu (Amritsar) and Anita Som Parkash (Hoshiarpur).
• Targetting the Congress on the anti-Sikh riots, the prime minister alleged that when the Congress was in power, it "saved" the rioters.
• It was Modi who got files of the anti-Sikh riots opened. 
• It was Modi who ensured punishment to the guilty.

Separately, PM Modi also called the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh a "talabaaz sarkar" for shutting down the staff selection commission and said the party also intends to put a "tala", or lock, on Ayodhya's Ram temple.

Addressing an election programme in Nahan in Sirmaur district, he claimed a conspiracy is being hatched to snatch the reservation from the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and give it to Muslims.

“I have come here to seek your blessings for a third term for the BJP, not for myself or my family but for a developed nation and developed Himachal”, he said while addressing a huge crowd of supporters at the BJP's 'Vijay Sankalp' rally.

The prime minister said the people of Himachal Pradesh live along the border and know the value of a strong nation. "(Main jaan ki baji laga dunga per Himachal per sankat nahin aane dunga) I assure you that I won't let any harm come to you," he said. 

PM Modi said he has visited every nook and corner of Himachal Pradesh during his days in the party organisation and he considers the state his second home.

(With inputs from PTI)