Amit Shah sets 2024 deadline for NRC, says all infiltrators to be expelled by then
Chakradharpur/Baharagora, Dec 2: BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday set a 2024 deadline for implementing the hugely divisive NRC across the country, asserting "each and every" infiltrator will be identified and expelled before the next general election.
Notwithstanding the admission by some BJP leaders in West Bengal that apprehensions over the NRC had cost the party dearly in the recent by polls there, the Union Home Minister told poll rallies in neighbouring Jharkhand that the nation- wide exercise will be conducted despite reservations voiced by opposition parties.
"Today, I want to tell you that before the 2024 polls the NRC will be conducted across the country and each and every infiltrator identified and expelled.
"Rahul Baba (Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) says don't expel them. Where will they go, what will they eat? But I assure you that before the country goes to polls in 2024 all illegal immigrants will be thrown out," he told election rallies in Chakradharpur and Baharagora.
Shah said national issues like uprooting terrorism, naxalism and construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya were as important in the Jharkhand elections as local matters like development.
Raking up the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri mosque dispute once again, the BJP president alleged the Congress made attempts to thwart the hearing of the case in the Supreme Court.
"Congress leaders would tell the Supreme Court that there is no need for hearing the Ram Janmabhoomi case. With your (people's) backing, we submitted that it be taken forward, and the result is that the apex court has ruled that only a Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya," he said.
He also attacked the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance, which is crossing swords with the BJP for electoral laurel in Jharkhand.
The BJP leader also gave credit to the state's BJP government for "uprooting" the naxalite menace and for bringing in development.
"When Congress was in power, it fired upon students agitating for Jharkhand state and attacked them with batons.
Now Hemant Soren (JMM leader) is sitting in the laps of the same Congress so he can become the chief minister," he said.
Referring to the "vikas ki Ganga" flowing in Jharkhand because of the "double engine" growth the Centre and the state governments had ushered in together, Shah said the Modi government built AIIMS in Deoghar, and it will now construct an airport there and also in Bokaro, Dumka and Jamshedpur.
About 20 lakh farmers have benefited from the crop insurance scheme, he said.
Within five years, the Narendra Modi government and Raghubar Das dispensation uprooted naxalism and paved the way for the state's development, he said.
He said Raghubar Das provided a "zero corruption" government and gave the state political stability. The Das government is the first in Jharkhand's history that will complete its full term in office.
"Rahul Gandhi is in Jharkhand today. I challenge him to give an account of what Congress governments have done for Jharkhand during 55 years of their rule. We will also give an account of what we have done in five years," he said.
Targeting the opposition alliance, the BJP chief said, "Parties that sell poll tickets, exploit adivasis, had opposed creation of Jharkhand and indulged in corruption involving millions and billions of rupees cannot take the state forward."
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Sharad Pawar's 'merger with Cong' remark shows it's difficult for him to run his party,says Fadnavis
Mumbai, May 8: NCP founder Sharad Pawar's remark on regional parties' possible merger with the Congress shows it has become difficult for him to manage his own party, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde latched on to Pawar's comment to target Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying the latter has already become "Congress-minded".
Another leader of the ruling 'Mahayuti' in Maharashtra said Pawar's remarks reflect that ground was slipping from under his feet in his home turf Baramati and the only option before him was merging his party with the Congress.
In an interview to The Indian Express, Pawar said that in the next couple of years, several regional parties will associate more closely with the Congress or may look at the option of merger with it if they believe that is best for their party.
To a question if that applied to his own party, Pawar told the newspaper that he doesn't see any difference between the Congress and his party because both belong to the Gandhi, Nehru line of thinking.
Pawar made it clear that any decision on strategy or the next step will be taken collectively. He also said that his party is close to the Congress ideologically and that Uddhav Thackeray is positive about working together with like-minded parties.
Asked about Pawar's remark, Shinde said the Shiv Sena (UBT) has already become Congress-minded.
"Pawar is a big leader and he makes such statements. But the Sena (UBT) faction has already become Congress as they speak the language of the Congress and Pakistan," Shinde, who heads the ruling Shiv Sena, said.
"Just the formality (of merger between them) is remaining," he added.
Fadnavis said that through his remark, Pawar might be suggesting that it was difficult for him to run his party and hence he may opt to merge it with the Congress.
"It is nothing new because Pawar has formed new parties and later merged them with the Congress," he said.
Former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who recently rejoined the ruling Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, said Pawar has been thinking about merging his party with the Congress for a long time and even the Congress had given the proposal to this effect to him.
"But Congress rejected the proposal to entrust the leadership to Supriya Sule. Pawar's fresh comment suggests that the ground is slipping from under his feet in Baramati. Even if that is not the case, he has no option but merge his party with Congress which will be seen as a merger of two loss-making companies," the former MP said.
BJP leader Prasad Lad asked whether the Sena (UBT) will merge with the Congress along with the Sharad Pawar-led party.
"Uddhav Thackeray has stopped saying 'My Hindu brothers and sisters' at the outset of his speeches. He has become friends with those who criticise Veer Savarkar. Only time will tell whether Thackeray will merge his party with Congress," he said.
NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said her father made a generic statement.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and senior Congress leader Vijay Waddetiwar said there was truth in what Pawar said.
"He has a long-term vision. People are fed up with the dictatorial regime and want a change of guard," he said, targeting the BJP-led government.
Chhagan Bhujbal of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP said he doesn't think regional parties will merge with the Congress.
"They are strong in their respective states and have formed governments in West Bengal and Odisha," he said, referring to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
The NCP founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999 split in July 2023 after his nephew Ajit Pawar rebelled against him and joined the Eknath Shinde-led government. The Election Commission and assembly speaker later recognised the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the "real NCP" and allotted the clock symbol to it, while the NCP (SP) group was given 'man blowing turha' as the symbol.
