Modi will continue to be PM even after 75: Shah
BJP Constitution has no rule that a leader who reaches the age of 75 should not hold the post, clarifies Home Minister; Shah slams Aiyar, Abdullah over Pak bomb comment
Asserting that Narendra Modi will continue to be the Prime Minister in the third term of NDA, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday sought to clarify that the BJP Constitution has no rule that a leader who reaches the age of 75 years should not hold the post.
“Modiji is not only going to complete this term but will continue to lead the country in future. There is no confusion in BJP. They want to create confusion,” he said when asked to comment on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s statement in which he said that PM Modi should be retiring after turning 75 on Sept.17.
“I want to say this to Arvind Kejriwal and company and the entire INDI alliance you need not rejoice over Modiji turning 75. It’s not written anywhere in the BJP’S constitution,” he said at a Press conference here.
Amit Shah slammed Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy over his remarks that nobody knows if surgical strikes took place or not.
“Their greed for minority vote bank has increased so much that they are criticising surgical strikes,” he said.
Asserting that the surgical strike was a key event in Indian military history, he claimed that India became the third country in the world after the United States and Israel which can go into the enemy territory to strike back at those messing up with its borders or armed forces.
“The entire country is proud of surgical strikes. Revanth Reddy will not say this publicly but if you meet him personally, he may say so,” Shah remarked.
He also lashed out at Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah for reportedly stating that India should not talk about POK as Pakistan has an atom bomb.
“I strongly condemn this approach. BJP believes that India will never give up its right over POK as it is an integral part of India,” he said.
On Revanth Reddy’s allegation that Tesla wanted to invest in Telangana but was pressured not to invest in the state, he said that no one will invest in Telangana because of the environment of corruption.
“The way he is running the government in Telangana, I don’t think anyone is going to invest. No one will invest in Telangana because of the environment of rampant corruption in the state,” he remarked.
Amit Shah also said that if Revanth Reddy had a problem, he could have met the Prime Minister and sought his help.
To another question, he said that the Supreme Court has given only interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal.
“Arvind Kejriwal has been given interim bail for the election campaign. He prayed in front of the Supreme Court that his arrest was wrong, but the Supreme Court did not agree to it. He filed a petition for bail which was also rejected. The court has given only interim bail till June 1 and on June 2 he has to surrender in front of the agencies. If Arvind Kejriwal considers this as a clean chit, then his understanding of the law is weak,” he said.
Meanwhile, Modi on Saturday tore into the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha, urging the voters to throw away the “corrupt” Naveen Patnaik-led state government.
Speaking at a rally in Kandhamal, PM Modi said: “Your one vote will bring a double-engine government in Odisha for the first time. Every single vote of yours is required for a Viksit Bharat and a Viksit Odisha. For this, you will have to elect all the 21 BJP candidates for Lok Sabha and elect BJP’S candidates for Assembly seats.”
PM Modi urged the people of Odisha to give the BJP five years, and he assured to make the state the number one in the country.
“I came here to give an invitation for the oath-taking ceremony of a BJP chief minister on June 10 in Bhubaneswar,” PM Modi said, while stressing the party’s emphasis on making a son/daughter of Odisha dedicated to Odia language and culture the chief minister.