Jaipur, February 20 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched a scathing attack against the Congress, accusing the grand old party of promoting nepotism in the country.
Addressing a Prabudhh Sammelan in Jaipur on Tuesday, Shah also heaped praises on Narendra Modi, saying that the Prime Minister, who accomplished many difficult tasks in the last 10 years, is now working hard to ensure that India becomes the top nation in the world by 2047.
“(PM) Modi has just one aim that is to see India on top of the world. However, the leaders of the ‘Ghathbandhan’ of seven parties only want to see their sons and nephews as the PM and CMs.
“Sonia Gandhi aims to see her son (Rahul Gandhi) as the PM, Uddhav Thackeray wants to see his son (Aditya Thackeray) as the CM, Lalu Prasad too wants to see his son (Tejashwi Yadav) as the CM, while Mayawati wants to see her nephew (Akash Anand) as the CM.
“Can such people who dream to see their sons and relatives as PM and CMs help in nation building,” Shah asked the gathering, which replied loudly: “No.”
“Such leaders only want their families to benefit, whereas the BJP wants Bharat to benefit,” Shah added.
Recalling the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Shah said, “There was time when people used to enter India and carry out blasts. You people elected PM Modi in 2014. This government carried out surgical strikes within 10 days after the Pulwama attack in 2019. Earlier, there were only two countries which were known to hit the enemy nation by conducting strikes after crossing its borders — America and Israel. But now India has entered the list.”
Stating that PM Modi has paved the way for the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir, Shah said that today, the tricolour is hoisted with pride in Kashmir, where cinema halls have become operational after 30 years.
“The Prime Minister has scrapped Article 370, so you should now bless him with 370 seats,” Shah told the gathering.
The Union minister also mentioned the four threats to democracy — nepostism, appeasement, corruption and casteism.
“PM Modi has scrapped nepotism, appeasement and corruption in the last 10 years, while casteism is also being scrapped. Now the opposition, despite forming the INDIA bloc, is clueless and directionless.
“India will be on the top of the world by 2047. PM Modi has made the impossible happen, and that too in just 10 years. The Lok Sabha polls are approaching… On one side there is the BJP, full of patriotism, and on the other side there is this ‘Ghamandiya’ Ghathbandhan (alliance). No one wants to lead this alliance. The country has already decided to make PM Modi win with 400 seats,” he said.
The Home Minister also said that the Congress objects to everything that the government does.
“We renamed Raj Path as Kartavya path, but they tried to stop it. We built the new Parliament building, which they objected to. We revived Kedarnath and Badrinath temple, but they objected. We made Mahakal Lok, but they objected again. When Ram Temple was inaugurated, they boycotted the Pran Pratishtha ceremony,” he said.
“They oppose to whatever we do to respect our culture and heritage. Those whose origins are in Italy cannot respect the traditions of India,” Shah said.
The minister also said that from 2004 to 2014, the Congress did one thing well, i.e., they did not let the rank of India’s economy fall.
“Under the leadership of Atal ji, India became the No. 11 economy. Manmohan Singh’s government lasted for 10 years. One thing that he did well was that he did not let India slip from 11th to 12th position. India’s position remained frozen for 10 years, before Modi took Indian economy to third position in 10 years.
“Many times I ask my Congress friends off the record, ‘what is your goal’, and they remain silent. When I ask ‘why don’t you support a good thing’, they are silent again. When I ask ‘why do you become silent again and again’, yet they remain silent.”
Earlier on Tuesday morning, Shah chaired a meeting of the Election Management Committee in Bikaner from where he sounded the bugle for Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing a gathering of party workers that was attended by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and other senior leaders from the nearby constituencies, Shah shared the strategies to achieve the party’s target of winning 400 seats in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
He also urged the party workers to ensure that the BJP wins all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan.
Shah directed the three in-charge ministers for the LS seats to form booth level committees at the earliest.
“You have to work hard… I will call you even at midnight,” he told the party workers.
“It’s been three months since the BJP government has been formed (in Rajasthan) and work should be seen on the ground,” Shah said.
Later, the Home Minister visited Udaipur where he reiterated the party’s goal of winning more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
