After ‘Mangalsutra’…Modi slams Congress on Hanuman Chalisa

Tonk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day after accusing the Congress of planning to redistribute country's wealth in favour of ‘infiltrators’, said even listening to Hanuman Chalisa has ‘become a crime under the Congress’.

Speaking at a meeting in Rajasthan's Tonk district three days before the second phase of the general election, Modi recounted an incident in "Congress-ruled Karnataka" where a man was beaten up while listening to Hanuman Chalisa at his shop. He also doubled down on his Monday's remarks, saying his flagging the issue has scared the Opposition bloc INDIA. "Here was a poor man, who was sitting in his little shop listening to Hanuman Chalisa. He was badly beaten up till he was bleeding... This is the way the Congress runs its government in Karnataka," he said.

"Even practicing one's faith becomes a problematic... and Rajasthan has first-hand experience of this," the PM said, citing in this connection the Congress leaders' absence at the consecration ceremony of Ayodhya's Ram temple.

Modi also referred to his "wealth to imposters" claim that has snowballed into a huge political row and reiterated that the main Opposition party is appeasing the minorities.

The PM had said on Monday that the Congress manifesto promises that if they come to power, "everyone's property will be surveyed, it will calculate gold belonging to mothers and sisters and then redistribute it. They "won't even spare your mangalsutra," he had said at a meeting in Rajasthan.

The Congress has filed a complaint with the Election Commission about the Prime Minister's speech, seeking immediate action.