Shah alleges bias in power supply under SP rule
LUCKNOW : Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) government of engaging in appeasement politics in Uttar Pradesh. He also claimed that the then government used to discriminate on power distribution along religious lines.
“There used to be power during Taazia and Moharram, but none during Parshuram Jayanti, Ram Jayanti and Krishna Janmotsav,” Shah said, addressing public meetings in eastern UP.
“Mujhe batayo ye theek hai kya
(tell me, if this was, ok?),” he asked as the crowd waved their hands indicating their disapproval. Shah spoke in Phephna, Bansdeeh (Ballia), Farenda (Maharajganj) and Nautanwa (Maharajganj).
Shah’s take on discriminatory power supply during the SP rule is part of the BJP plan to target the Samajwadi Party and to show it as a party that engaged in appeasement politics.
Another example that party leaders like Amit Shah have been often quoting in the UP campaign is about Yogi Adityanath’s government having cleansed eastern UP of both ‘macchhar aur mafia (mosquitoes and mafia)’. “Tell me where are Azam Khan, Mukhtar Ansari or Atiq Ahmad these days. Behind bars, right? Now, tell me if SP comes to power, will these remain in jail. You want them in jail or do you want them out on bail?” Shah has been stating in each of his rallies and asserting that it is important that BJP is voted to power again to keep criminals at bay. In the west UP campaign earlier, Shah had been striking the SP with the NIZAM jibe and had explained that NIZAM meant rule in Urdu. He then had proceeded to explain that the abbreviation stood for Naseemuddin Siddiqui, Azam Khan, Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmad. “What can I do if they happen to be Muslims?” chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said recently in an interview with a news channel when asked about the Opposition charge that the BJP was targeting Muslims alone. Political experts were quick to notice that the BJP is aiming to avoid voting along caste lines in eastern UP and thus examples, such as the ones that Shah or other BJP leaders have been making during the campaign, are subtly aimed at ensuring that BJP voters vote as one. In the 2017 UP polls, PM Narendra Modi, too, had flagged the issue. “If a village receives funds for graveyard, then it should also get for cremation grounds, too. If you provide uninterrupted power supply on Eid, then you should also do it for Holi,” Modi had said during the 2017 UP campaign. This time, CM Yogi Adityanath has been targeting the SP, stating that during its rule all that the Samajwadi Party government did was to construct boundary walls of Muslim graveyards.