Rahul Gandhi's 'dukaan' will be shut in Bihar as INDIA bloc will be wiped out in polls: Shah
Purnea (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, stating that his 'dukaan' (shop) will be shut in Bihar as the INDIA bloc will be wiped out in the assembly polls and the NDA would form the government after securing over 160 seats.
Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Purnea, Katihar and Supaul, Shah alleged that Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav were "hell-bent" on making Bihar's Seemanchal region a "den" of infiltrators, and asserted that the Centre will detect and identify every illegal immigrant, delete their names from electoral rolls and deport them.
"Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are hell-bent on turning the Seemanchal region of Bihar into a den of infiltrators... We will detect and identify every illegal immigrant, delete their names from electoral rolls and deport them to their country," he added.
Shah said the NDA government will free Seemanchal from encroachment by infiltrators, and all illegal activities will be stopped.
"If you don't want infiltrators to decide the next CM of Bihar, defeat the RJD-Congress combine that took out a yatra to save them," Shah said, while hitting out at Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'.
"Rahul Gandhi's 'dukaan' will be shut in Bihar as the INDIA bloc will be wiped out in the polls... NDA will form the government by securing 160 seats in the 243-member House," he said.
Attacking the Mahagathbandhan, Shah said RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi were worried about their sons, Tejashwi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, respectively, while asserting that no seats were vacant for them either in Bihar or Delhi.
"Half of the state has already shown the door to the Congress-RJD combine," he claimed, referring to the first phase of the polls held on November 6.
Hitting out at the RJD, he said, "I agree with Tejashwi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi can't do in 'seven births' what Lalu did... He can't indulge in multiple scams."
Shah accused the RJD of trying to restore 'jungle raj' and alleged that the party wants the late gangster Mohammad Shahabuddin's terror back as Lalu Prasad gave ticket to his son Osama Shahab.
He claimed that "terror would reign supreme if such forces were elected".
Shah said the RJD rule in the state two decades back saw murders, rapes, massacres, acid attacks, anarchy and terrorism, while asserting that only an NDA government can bolster development in the state.
Taking a jibe at the Congress, Shah said that earlier, biryani used to be served to terrorists, but the Modi government launched operations and neutralised terrorists in their own lands after attacks in India.
He said that in any event of future military conflict with Pakistan, cannons manufactured in the proposed defence corridor in Bihar will be used.
A roadmap is ready to establish Bihar as an industrial centre through petroleum refinery and other projects, he said, adding that closed sugar mills in the state will also be revived.
Waters from Nepal's rivers, which wreak floods and destruction in Bihar, will be used to irrigate farmers' fields, Shah added.
"Bihar will be developed as a major centre of tourism by connecting places of religious importance to the Ramayan circuit," he said.
He said a Makhana Board was established as Bihar's Purnea, Araria, Katihar, Saharsa, Supaul, Kishanganj, Madhubani, Darbhanga and Sitamarhi accounted for 90 per cent of the country's fox nut output.
Now, makhana from Mithilanchal will be exported to Europe and the US, Shah added.
He alleged that Congress and RJD created hindrances in the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and will now not dare build a Sita temple as "they are afraid of their vote bank".
NDA will construct a grand Sita temple in Sitamarhi at a cost of Rs 850 crore within two-and-a-half years, he said.
Shah said that the NDA deposited Rs 10,000 into the accounts of 1.41 crore 'Jeevika Didis', and alleged that RJD appealed to the Election Commission to withdraw it.
"Not even three generations of Lalu Prasad will be able to snatch this," he said, promising to send up to Rs 2 lakh to all 'Jeevika Didis' in the next two years while enhancing the amount for 27 lakh farmers from Rs 6,000 per year to Rs 9,000.
He claimed that Nitish Kumar's 20-year rule and Modi's 11-year regime at the Centre were corruption-free.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
