Congress is now the most corrupt party: Modi in poll-bound Maharashtra

Modi said, "The Congress we see today is not the same Congress with which great men like Mahatma Gandhi were once associated. The spirit of patriotism has died in today's Congress. The ghost of hatred has entered today's Congress.

"Today, the language of the Congress people, their dialect, going to foreign soil and talking about breaking the country, insulting Indian culture and faith has become their identity."

"Today the most corrupt and dishonest party in the country is Congress. The most corrupt family of the country is the royal family of Congress," he added.

Besides warming up his party before the polls with the dynasty charge against the Congress, the Prime Minister relaunched the appeasement card against the primary opposition party of the country.

Modi carefully linked Ganapati festival, which is widely celebrated in Maharashtra, to his outrage against the Congress, which in an alliance with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and National Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) offered a massive jolt to the ruling combination comprising the Prime Minister's BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"Congress is doing anything for appeasement. In Karnataka, the Congress government put Ganapati Bappa behind bars. The idol of Ganapati which people were worshipping was imprisoned in a police van," Modi said.

"The whole country is outraged seeing this insult to Ganapati. I am surprised that even the Congress allies have kept mum on this issue...," he added.

In Maharashtra, which saw multiple "horse-trading" and alliance crumblings leading to political instability over the last few years, the BJP-led NDA which comprises Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde camp) suffered the jolt facing the upbeat national opposition bloc INDIA, which won 30 out of 48 seats in the April-May-June Lok Sabha polls.

The NDA comprising the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP could add only 17 seats.