Shah attacks Cong for its ‘vote-bank politics’
GANDHINAGAR: Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday attacked the Congress and said the party’s vote bank politics was the reason for the inaction of previous governments on Kashmir and blamed the opposition party for stalling the Sardar Sarovar dam project for years. Shah has addressed over 10 rallies in Gujarat since Sunday to endorse BJP candidates in the assembly elections, scheduled on December 1 and 5, where his party is looking for a seventh straight victory. The results will be declared on December 8. On Wednesday, Shah was in Surendranagar district’s Dasada town where he attacked the Congress.
“Shouldn’t Article 370 be removed from Kashmir?” he asked, referring to the now-nullified provision that bestowed special status on Kashmir.
“For years, the Congress party played on with Article 370, which was dumped on the country by Jawaharlal Nehru. Why did they do so? Due to their votebank politics. You know very well which vote bank I am referring to,” he said.
He accused opposition parties of trying to stall the National Democratic Alliance government’s decision to effectively abrogate Article 370 and said the Congress party also insulted BR Ambedkar.
“The five generations of the family, left no stone unturned to insult Babasaheb Ambedkar... they didn’t let him enter Parliament, didn’t give him the Bharat Ratna, they didn’t even built any statue of Babasaheb. Whereas, the BJP government under Narendra Modi etched babasaheb’s name in gold,” he said.
“Apart from that, the BJP declared April 14 as ‘Samrasta Diwas’ and November 26 as ‘Samvidhan Diwas’ in honor of Babasaheb Ambedkar... Through all these, the BJP has etched Babasaheb’s name in history in gold,” he added.
Shah also said the Narendra Modi government banned instant triple talaq to guarantee the rights of Muslim women.
Earlier in the day, Shah addressed a rally at Jasdan in support of BJP candidate Kunwarji Bavaliya, and criticised activist Medha Patkar joining Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. “There can be no greater insult to the people of Gujarat, than placing your hands on the shoulders of those who stalled the Narmada scheme for 20 years,” he said.
He added that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal nominated Patkar as a candidate in the 2014 general elections. “But he is sensible enough to not bring her here in Gujarat at the time of elections.”
The Congress hit back. “As far as Article 370 is concerned, it is still a part of the Constitution. Amit Shah is home minister; being a responsible person, he should not give misinformation... You go by the ordinance... which was presented in 2019. It says... using the power of Article 370, we are making these changes. And till now, more than 30 changes have been made in this article but the article is still a part of the Constitution...,” Congress spokesperson, Alok Sharma said.
THE MODI GOVT BANNED INSTANT TRIPLE TALAQ TO GUARANTEE THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIM WOMEN, SHAH SAID AT THE RALLY