Rahul Gandhi and company went into mourning upon air strikes: Amit Shah
Munger: BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday launched a stinging attack on his Congress counterpart Rahul Gandhi whom he accused of having gone into mourning upon air strike in Balakot along with those in the Pakistan ruling establishment even though nation-wide celebrations were held to hail the operation.
He said Gandhi may carry on doing "Ilu Ilu" (a famous Bollywood song of the 1990s that abbreviated the expression I love you) with Pakistan, but they under Prime Minister Narendra Modi having a 56-inch chest will give befitting reply to any act of cross-border terror.
Only two types of people were mourning the Balakot air strikes. One was those in the ruling establishment in Pakistan. The second was Rahul baba and company," Shah told an election rally here.
Since the 1990s, whenever the Congress was in power, we had to contend with the humiliation of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists killing our soldiers, mutilating their bodies.
Karyakartas (BJP-RSS workers) like me cannot forget how helpless Mouni Baba (Manmohan Singh) used to look, the BJP president said.
In frustration, they are seeking proof of the air strikes. In the past, they sought to defend anti-national slogans inside the JNU premises in the name of freedom of expression. They even want to do away with the sedition law..
I want to tell Rahul baba, you may carry on with your efforts to get convicts like Lalu Prasad out on bail. But as long as Narendra Modi is in power anti-nationals will find themselves behind bars, Shah said.
Mocking at the opposition Mahagathbandhan for the lack of cohesiveness and absence of leadership, he said, I had got a very interesting SMS - if this formation gets a majority, Mamata Banerjee will be the Prime Minister on Monday, Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday, Mayawati on Wednesday, Lalu Prasad on Thursday, Chandrababu Naidu on Friday Deve Gowda on Saturday and the entire country will go on a holiday on Sunday.
Tell me, is this how a country can be run, is this how Pakistan can be given a befitting a reply and terrorism can be quelled, Shah asked evoking a loud no from the crowds.
Speaking about the development works by the Modi government, he said in the last five years, cooking gas has been brought to seven crore families and toilets to eight crore households. The Ayushman Bharat scheme, which provides an annual insurance health cover of Rs five lakh, has already benefited more than 23 lakh poor.
Let the Congress give an account of the 55 years it has enjoyed power in the country," he said.
He made a scathing attack at the RJD, an alliance partner of the Congress in Bihar.
"Memories of the 15 years long Lalu-Rabri regime, known as jungle raj because of the lawlessness that characterized it, still brings shudders to the people of the state. A change has been brought about by the efforts of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi,the BJP president said.
Modi had promised an assistance of Rs 1.25 lakh crore.
Work has begun on schemes worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore. Rahul Gandhi came to the state and challenged Modi to tell what he did for Bihar in five years. Let him give an account of what five generations of his family did, Shah said evoking cheers from the crowd.
This is my 255th rally in four months of the year. I have travelled across the country. Wherever I have gone, I have heard the deafening chants of Modi! Modi! Modi!, Shah said at the election meeting where he was accompanied by a number of senior leaders including Sushil Kumar Modi.
Shah was here campaigning for the JD(U) candidate Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, a state minister and close aide of Nitish Kumar.
Shah began his 25-minute speech with an exhortation to the public to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai saying it must be loud enough to be heard in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is camping.
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
