NEW DELHI, Feb 18: Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday likened the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to the Mahabharata war, asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the BJP-led camp working for the country’s development while the “INDI alliance” under the Congress is a collection of seven dynastic parties focussed on corruption and nepotism.
In his address at the BJP’s national convention here, Shah lashed out at the opposition bloc INDIA for its promotion of dynastic and appeasement politics and claimed that the Congress turned down the invite for the Ram temple consecration ceremony, opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the repeal of Article 370 due to appeasement politics.
“Just as in the Mahabharata war there were two camps, Kauravas and Pandavas, similarly today there are two camps ahead of the elections,” Shah said.
“On the one hand there is a developmental alliance under Modi’s leadership and on the other there is a dynastic alliance under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. I can say with conviction that the nation will stand for the BJP which is working for the poor and not with the parties that are there only to make the careers of their children,” Shah said.
He made the remarks while proposing the resolution “BJP: Desh ki aasha, vipaksha ki hatasha” (BJP: Country’s hope, opposition’s despair), which was highly critical of the INDIA bloc parties for their alleged involvement in corruption.
The resolution spoke of DMK leaders’ intemperate remarks hurting the country’s fundamental beliefs, a reference to their criticism of the Sanatan Dharma, the arrest of AAP leaders in the excise scam case, and violence against women and others in West Bengal.
The speech of Shah, considered the key architect in shaping the party’s political positions, was two-pronged, highlighting the “untainted” leadership of Modi who is like a “diya” (candle) which burns to dispel darkness around and successes of his government and contrasting them with the opposition alliance which is “self-serving and corrupt”.
With the government often being accused by opposition parties of undermining institutions, he said the Congress harmed institutions like no one else and sought to destroy bodies like the judiciary.
It dismissed state governments 90 times, 50 of them done by the governments led by Indira Gandhi alone, he said and cited the Emergency to hit out at the main opposition party.
“Even after 100 years, no one will be able to better the record of the Congress in bringing down elected governments,” he claimed.
Opposition parties, he said, are in denial mode and oppose everything for the sake of it, be it the repeal of Article 370, ban on triple talaq, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or the construction of the new Parliament building.
The opposition, he said, is full of “2G, 3G and 4G” parties, a reference to the second, third and fourth generations of families running these parties.
The INDIA bloc’s and the Congress’ gift to the nation is ending its democratic spirit through corruption, dynastic politics, appeasement, and casteism but Modi in the last 10 years ended this and brought the politics of performance to the centre stage.
While Modi thinks of the poor and the country’s development, INDIA bloc leaders think of making their children prime minister and chief ministers, Shah said, referring to Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad and M K Stalin among others.
“People who are capable of being good leaders are made to face tough times in these parties. Many such leaders have now joined the BJP and are walking on the path of democracy,” he said.
“If family politics existed in the BJP, then the son of a tea-seller would not have become the country’s prime minister,” he added.
The Congress is the mother of corruption, he said, listing a number of alleged scams related to coal block allocation, 2G spectrum and defence deals during its rule during 2004-14.
All the family “princes” have come together against Modi as they think only someone from a powerful family can occupy the top position, he said amid slogans in support of the prime minister at the meeting.
“On the one hand there are family-run parties and on the other is the son of a poor mother,” he said.
Modi has worked for the development of all sections of society and enhanced the country’s global standing, Shah said, while asserting that there is no doubt in people’s mind that he will retain power for a third term.
Shah said the government has bridged the earlier fault lines around issues like urban and rural development, foreign policy and defence imperatives, and growth and the poor’s welfare by ensuring the country’s development in totality.
The government has worked to lift the living standards of 60 crore poor who earlier felt left out of the development process, he said.
He also lashed out at the Congress for turning down the invite for the Ram temple consecration ceremony, saying they did so due to appeasement politics and ensured that their party will remain out of the country’s development march.
The home minister asserted that terrorism, separatism and Naxalism are taking their last breath and expressed confidence that India will be completely free of them under the Modi government 3.0.
In a swipe at Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, he said the Congress has always launched movements to gain power but the BJP has always done so for the country, be it campaign for removing Article 370, construction of the Ram temple or freeing Goa from the Portuguese rule. (PTI)
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