Lucknow/New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) BJP leader Narendra Modi Monday invoked the name of Lord Ram in a Lok Sabha election speech and urged the people to vote out the "corrupt and incompetent Congress government at the Centre".
In New Delhi, the Congress went to the Election Commission (EC), calling it a "misuse of religion to canvass".
Modi, speaking in Faizabad, the twin city of Ayodhya where the disputed Babri mosque-Ram temple site is, said even Mahatma Gandhi espoused the cause of "Ram Rajya".
"... When people asked Mahatma Gandhi how good governance should be, he would reply in one word, a welfare state should be like 'Ram Rajya'," Modi said.
"I am privileged to be in the land of Lord Ram..." the Gujarat chief minister said at the rally.
The BJP's prime ministerial candidate, however, did not mention the Ram temple issue in his speech.
Speaking against the backdrop of the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya, Modi also urged the people not to vote for the mother-son government, referring to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi.
"This is the land of Lord Ram where people believed in 'pran jaye par vachan na jaye' (one may lose life but cannot break a promise). Can you pardon those who broke their promises?" Modi questioned.
Faizabad has been the seat of the Ram temple movement of the '90s that drummed up support for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Congress went to the EC, complaining about the use of a religious symbol for canvassing, calling for derecognition of the BJP.
"The BJP and Narendra Modi have used the portrait of Lord Rama, which is strategically placed behind the podium from where the speech is being delivered by Narendra Modi. The headgear of Lord Rama fits on the head of Modi," the Congress said in its complaint.
"This is clear misuse of religion to canvass and seek vote on the basis of religion," the Congress said, adding the speech was broadcast live across the country.
"It is therefore, requested that FIR should be registered against all of them and the BJP may be derecognised under the symbol laws and any other action as may be," said the letter.
The BJP, meanwhile, took a dig at the Congress saying it keeps running to the EC with complaints.
"The Congress keeps running to the Election Commission with complaints... I would urge the Congress to make an expressway from its headquarters to the EC headquarters so they can complain any time," BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said in the national capital.
In the staggered Lok Sabha polls, balloting in Faizabad will be held May 7.
The Supreme Court has stayed the Bombay High Court's acquittal of former Delhi University profess
New Delhi: Controversy continues between the ruling and opposition on three new agricultural laws
In these 10 states of the country, only 73% of the cases of corona are there, UP at number three
The Government of India, fighting the second wave of Coronavirus, has on Tuesday released a list
Southeast Asian Chinese's Cross-Cultural Traditions at National Museum
New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) A slice of cross-cultural traditions of the Peranakan Chinese in Singap
Story by Jailed Former MP included in Textbook
Patna, Jan 16 (IANS) A story written in Hindi by former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, serving life term
Xiaomi 11i 5G Offer: Buy this 30 thousand smartphone of Xiaomi for less than 4 thousand rupees
Xiaomi 11i 5G Offer 2022: If you are thinking of buying Xiaomi's 5G model Xiaomi 11i 5G, then let
Oppo India has announced that most of its 5G phones have received a software update that supports
Unconventional courses render students jobless (Education Feature)
Chandigarh, Feb 15 (IANS) Kiran Chaudhary, 24, had glitte
Pakistani MP and TV host Amir Liaquat Hussain has died. Aamir Liaquat was found unconscious in hi
kargil war 1999: July 26, 1999, will be etched in the memory of every Indian. On this day, the In
