Hindustan Times (Patiala)

‘Grand Alliance won’t impact BJP’

- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu letters@hindustant­imes.com

AMIT SHAH SAID THE CONGRESS PRESIDENT HAD NO MORAL RIGHT TO ASK FOR THE PROGRESS REPORT OF THE NARENDRA MODILED GOVERNMENT

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah on Sunday expressed confidence that his party will return to power for a second term in 2019 elections by securing more than 50% of votes, irrespecti­ve of the number of opposition parties ganging up against it in the name of “Mahagathba­ndhan (or Grand Alliance)”.

Addressing the concluding session of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national convention – Yuva Adhiveshan – at Secunderab­ad parade grounds, Shah said the so-called Grand Alliance was not going to make any impact on the BJP even if more parties join it.

“The reason is simple. They don’t have any other agenda except bringing down the Narendra Modi government, while the BJP is going to polls on the plank of developmen­t and building a strong and secure nation. While Modi called for Make In India, the Congress and its allies want breaking India.

The people will obviously choose the BJP,” he said.

The BJP chief pointed out that his party had won elections in 14 states since 2014 general elections, decimating the Congress and its allies everywhere. “Congress president Rahul Gandhi had to look at the country’s map using binoculars to search for the states where it is in power. And after 2019, he would need more powerful binoculars,” he said. He took a dig at Gandhi, saying he was dreaming of becoming the prime minister. “Unfortunat­ely, his own alliance partners – Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee - have refused to acknowledg­e his leadership. Entire country knows he is not a PM face,” the BJP president said.

Shah said the Congress president had no moral right to ask for the progress report of the fourand-a-half-years of Modi government.

“We are not accountabl­e to Rahul, as his Congress party had neither done anything for the country nor the poor in the last seven decades.”

Stating that the transforma­tion of the nation, which began in 2014, was going on at a rapid pace, Shah said the 2019 elections would be a big challenge for the BJP, as the country’s fate was going to be decided.

“I want thousands of Yuva Morcha activists to be battle ready and work day and night for the victory of the BJP with thumping majority.

You should take the programmes of Modi government to every household in the country and should not rest till the day of counting,” he asserted.

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