PM Modi shrugs off Sanjay Raut's 'Aurangzeb' jibe: 'When poor bless me, opposition abuse'

livemint.com:

Sanjay Raut calling him "Aurangzeb". PM Modi said, “I have been called Aurangzeb; there has been a call to 'behead' me. Amid all these positive, and negative comments, the world will see its biggest election".

PM Modi exuberated confidence that “despite abuses" hurled at him, the people of India would vote him back to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls. "Today, when the poor bless me, the opposition abuse me and the poor both but it does not make any difference" PM Modi said. "The country has made up its mind," he said, referring to the slogan of "Phir ek baar, Modi sarkar".

PM Modi's apparent swipe at opposition leaders at News18 group's summit came amid their allegations that his government had been using probe agencies to target them. PM Modi cited massive hauls of cash from leaders belonging to parties like the Congress and the Trinamool Congress and said his government's tough action against corruption has rattled them into abusing him. These abuses will not make any difference, he said, asserting that he gets blessings of the poor who have been receiving all the benefits meant for them, unlike in the past when a huge chunk of welfare money used to be siphoned off.

Targeting the opposition, PM Modi said while his government is busy framing a road map for the next 25 years and plan for the first 100 days of its third term, the opposition has just heaped its "104th" abuse on him. He cited opposition leaders' remarks threatening him and likening him to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, seen by many as a zealot. Uddhav Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said Aurangzeb was born at a place in Gujarat near Narendra Modi's village.