‘Cong must clear its stand on NRC’
BJP chief alleges the Oppn party was ‘playing votebank politics’, says his govt will make sure the infiltrators are identified
KANKROLI (RAJSAMAND): BJP president Amit Shah Saturday alleged that the Congress was playing “vote-bank politics” over the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) government, both at the Centre and in the state, will make sure that “Bangladeshi infiltrators” are identified.
Addressing a public meeting at Kankroli in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district, where Shah flagged off chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s ‘Gaurav Yatra’, asked the Congress to spell out its stand on the NRC issue. “The BJP government has undertaken the screening of illegal Bangladeshis in the country but the Congress is opposing so that their vote bank remains intact,” Shah alleged.
He suggested that people of Rajasthan should ask Congress president Rahul Gandhi when he next visits the state about whether the NRC in Assam should be implemented or not.
“This is not about vote-bank politics but about national security. There is a Supreme Court order and we will ensure it is implemented and they (Banglamight deshis) are identified,” he said.
Setting the agenda for Rajasthan elections, due this year, as well as the general elections next year, Shah said the BJP government has “overturned the Supreme Court order” on the SC/ST Act, and “replaced” it with a “more stringent one”.
He said the BJP has brought in a bill in the Rajya Sabha to give constitutional recognition to the National Commission for Backward Classes. “OBCS have been demanding this for several decades. The people of Rajasthan should ask Rahul Baba if the Congress will support the bill in the Rajya Sabha.”
Shah said under the BJP rule in the state and the Centre, Rajasthan received funds worth ~2,63,000 crore. “But under the Congress government in the state and the UPA government at the Centre, the state received central aid of ~1,09,000 crore.”
Amid chants of ‘Modi, Modi’, Shah exhorted the crowd to vote for Raje and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Rajasthan has progressed under Raje. You have to repeat the Raje-modi duo in the 2018-2019 elections.” Referring to the large turnout of people at the public meeting, Shah said, “It looks like the Gaurav Yatra well turn into a Vijay Yatra.” Shah took jibes at Gandhi, repeatedly referring to him as “Rahul Baba”. “The Congress has said it will ask us 40 questions. Rahul Baba also asks us what has the BJP done. You are asking us our account of four years but people of the country want an account of your four generations. I have not come to give an account to Rahul Baba but to the people of Rajasthan,” he said.
Addressing the meeting, Raje said, “Congress always tried to create rift among castes but we want to take every section along with us. It is our aim to launch public welfare schemes and transfer the benefit to people. Development works have taken place in last four years in every panchayat and district.”
She said Rajasthan is no more a Bimaru state. In the coming years, she said, industries will be set up, development will pick up pace for a progressive Rajasthan.
“There is a need to end ‘One time Congress, one time BJP’ trend to put Rajasthan among fastest developing states.
Development took place at fast pace in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat where the BJP is in power,” the chief minister said.