"Will Do Everything To Make Uniform Civil Code A Reality": 18 Highlights From PM Modi's TOI Interview

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview with the Times of India, shared on his views on various topics that have become part of the political discourse in the current election season. Here are the 18 highlights:

1. On 'Abki baar, 400 paar': Modi expressed confidence in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) crossing the 400 mark. "One of the main reasons we want to win 400 seats is to protect the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs in our country," he said.

2. Why the number 400? Modi explained that people have been emotional about the abrogation of Article 370 and felt that they should give 370 seats to the party that abrogated Article 370.

"And hence, the slogan, ‘Abki Baar, 400 Paar’ for the NDA emanated from among the people. It was an organic and a never-seen-before phenomenon where people are themselves setting a target for our victory," he said.

3. 'India Shining' moment? On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's comment, Modi said, "The Congress party’s Yuvraj should be the last person to be talking about hubris. Their only hope is that there will be some miracle to make them win the elections."

He explained that comparing 2024 with 2004 is not correct because contemporary issues are different. "In 2024, not only have we got new allies but we have unprecedented support of the people, which gives us the confidence of a spectacular win," he added.

4. On South India: "The people of South India have made a big push to create space for BJP... People are fed up with Congress and regional parties... They see a ray of hope in BJP and are seeing BJP as a credible alternative," Modi said.

He claimed, "The results from the South will see multiple myths broken this time. Our mind-share has already increased and you will see that our vote share and seat share will also increase in a huge way."

5. On 'Modi ki guarantee': The PM said that guarantee is "a very sacred expression" for him. "There are no ifs and buts to Modi’s guarantees. For the Congress party, their promises are just a way to fool people to gain their votes," he added.

6. On polarisation: Pointing towards Rameshwaram cafe blast in Bengaluru and Neha Hiremath's murder in Hubballi, Modi said, "He (Neha's father) is from the Congress party, but still he is not getting justice. If this is not appeasement, what is it?"

"It is not polarisation to show that Congress has violated the Constitution and enacted laws providing reservation on the basis of religion," Modi added highlighting Karnataka Congress government's decision to categorise all Muslims under Backward Caste.

7. On UCC: "We will do everything in our capacity to make Uniform Civil Code a reality in India," Modi said praising Uttarakhand for becoming the first state to implement UCC as he considers separate laws for communities detrimental to the health of society.

8. On wealth redistribution: Claiming that wealth redistribution is "a clear example of Maoist thinking and ideology", Modi said, "It is saddening to see Congress and its Yuvraj carrying forward such Maoist vision which is a recipe for disaster."

He added that due to protection given to minorities, Congress cannot touch the properties of minorities, "it cannot consider waqf properties for redistribution but it will eye the properties of all other communities. This will sow complete and irreversible communal disharmony."

9. On North-South divide: "Raising the false bogey of discrimination is their way of diverting and distracting from their corruption and misgovernance... Every patriotic Indian will reject this artificial and false divide that Congress is trying to create," Modi said.

10. On financial equity: Modi said that wealth tax and inheritance tax are "actually dangerous problems disguised as solutions" and emphasised the need to remove barriers and empower people to unleash their entrepreneurial potential.

"Wealth redistribution, wealth tax etc have never been successful: they never removed poverty, they just distributed it so that everyone is equally poor. The poor remain stricken with poverty, wealth creation stops and poverty becomes uniform," he added.

11. On Kashi and Mathura: "I will not comment much as the cases are sub judice. But we are committed to developing our cultural heritage. Our manifesto speaks about the aim to boost cultural tourism across the country."

He asserted the development of temple spaces and cultural spaces of all religions in India as world-class destinations for pilgrimage and tourism, which will not only help the pilgrims but also the local economy.

12. On EVMs: "Supreme Court has given a good closure to the issue, highlighting the importance of EVMs. Opposition always wants to drag the nation towards the era of booth capturing, which is possible only through paper ballots," the PM said.

13. India an 'electoral autocracy'?: "India does not become an electoral autocracy if the Yuvraj cannot automatically get power. Just because he has to fight elections and the people of India are not impressed by him doesn’t make India less democratic," Modi said.

14. On allegations of misuse of central agencies: "Of the corruption cases probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), only 3 per cent involve politicians. The remaining 97 per cent are linked to officials and criminals. Action is being taken against them too," Modi said.

"Over the last 11 years, out of 10,622 preliminary inquiries and regular cases being investigated by the CBI, only about 1-1.5 per cent of the total cases involved politicians. This debunks the claim of a politically-motivated modus operandi," the PM added.

15. On Arvind Kejriwal's arrest: Modi expressed hope that a Chief Minister being in jail "does not become a precedent" and asked media to show how people of Delhi are suffering. "I feel other politicians won’t be so lacking in morals and will not go to this extent," he added.

16. On impartiality of Governors: "Congress party, which converted Raj Bhavans into Congress Bhavans, has no right to speak about the sanctity of the governor’s post," Modi said mentioning "unprecedented attacks" on governors in various states.

The PM highlighted that his government never used Article 356 to topple any elected government and said, "There has been a rise in cooperative federalism, with efforts to foster better relations between the Centre and states."

17. On foreign policy: Asserting that his approach to foreign policy is ‘nation first’, Modi said, "Today, the world respects India for being able to ensure that fuel and energy prices for its citizens stayed in control despite the global conflicts."

18. 'One Nation, One Election': Modi said that it will ensure that as a nation, our time, effort and resources get invested more productively towards nation-building. He said that concrete steps will be taken on it in his third term.