Modi invokes Ram, ’84 anti-Sikh riots in Pilibhit; Maneka, Varun skip event

Pilibhit: PM Modi at a LS poll rally in Pilibhit on Tuesday, his first in the constituency in 10 years of his govt, accused Congress of making several attempts to stall the construction of Ayodhya Ram temple and “insulting” Lord Ram by rejecting invitation for ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony.
“Every family of the country contributed. People of Pilibhit also gifted a flute to Ayodhya. But ‘INDI alliance’ only has hatred and does not care about our nation’s heritage,” Modi said.
Incumbent MP Varun Gandhi, who was denied a party ticket from Pilibhit, and his mother Maneka Gandhi, who is fighting the elections on a BJP ticket from Sultanpur, were conspicuously absent from the event.
Referring to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, drawing the attention of large concentration of Sikh voters in Pilibhit and adjoining districts of Shahjahanpur, Kheri and US Nagar (Uttarakhand), he said, “What Congress had done to our Sikh brothers and sisters, nobody can forget...” He stressed the BJP govt removed ‘langar’ items from GST and opened Kartarpur Sahib corridor.
“We paid the fullest honour to the martyrdom of Guru Govind Singh’s sons by observing ‘Veer Bal Diwas’. We also honoured our sacred values by bringing Guru Granth Sahib from Afghanistan with utmost devotion... When the country becomes strong, the world listens to it,” he added.
Modi pointed out the BJP-led govt observed 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev, 400th Prakash Parv of Guru Teg Bahadur and 350th Prakash Parv of Guru Gobind Singh. Notably, Hina Parveen, a Muslim artisan, prepared a flute for PM Modi which was presented to him on stage. On being asked about the flute’s length, Hina said it was specially designed for a “great leader with ‘56-inch chest’ who is taking our nation to new heights”.