Oppn does not have PM face, will risk India’s safety: Shah

Shah took a jibe at the Opposition for not having a face for the PM’s post. “They are not going to win the elections but even if they win by chance, can you tell me who will become the PM? The BJP has a clear face… When we win and form the government, Narendra Modi will be our PM, but if the INDIA bloc wins, do you know who will become the PM? Do you know any names? Can Sharad Pawar, Mamtaben (Banerjee), (MK) Stalin, or Uddhav Thackery become the PM? Chandrababu Naidu has now come with us… and lastly, can Rahul Baba (Gandhi) become the Prime Minister?” Shah asked the crowd in Chhota Udepur district’s Bodeli. He repeated the attack at another election rally in Daman.

The Opposition, he said, has decided to “rotate the PM’s term” between them, which will jeopardise the country’s safety. “This is not about running a partnership firm… it is about running the country… Can this ghamandia (arrogant) alliance keep the country safe after rotating the PM’s term between them for one year each? If a situation like a pandemic (Covid) arises, can they save the country? Will they be able to save Kashmir from terrorists? These people can only spread lies, like they are spreading about reservation quota…,” Shah further said.

As he addressed a rally in support of Valsad BJP candidate Dhaval Patel in Navsari’s Vansda, Shah referred to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as an “urban naxal party”, yet again raising concerns about national security. “The Congress and urban naxal party AAP have come together to disturb the peace of this tribal region. Do you want extortion to start in Valsad? Will you allow Naxalism to raise its head in our forest areas? Naxalism and urban naxalism will begin here if their candidate wins,” he said.

Lashing out at Rahul Gandhi, he said the Congress leader “asked tribals not to take the vaccine and termed it as Modi vaccine”. “However, both brother and sister (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) secretly took the vaccine in the night. They were not ashamed of playing politics during the times of COVID-19,” the BJP leader alleged.

On the attacks from rivals, including Rahul Gandhi, that the BJP will “end reservation”, Shah yet again emphasised on “Modi guarantee” and dismissed the allegations. In the same breath, he hit out at the Congress in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s criticism of the grand old party.

“The party that looted the reservation is Congress. After forming governments in Karnataka and Telangana, they gave reservations of 5 per cent and 4 per cent to Muslims. This was snatched from the reservation quota of the tribals and dalits. If they have courage, they should announce that ‘we will finish the reservation given to Muslims’. I assure you that if we form a government in Karnataka and Telangana, we will stop the illegal reservation given to Muslims and give the quota back to where it belongs,” Shah said at the Vansda rally after making similar remarks in Bodeli.

“Under the BJP government, no one has the right to touch the reservation of the SCs, STs and OBCs,” he asserted in Bodeli.

Later in the day, at another rally in Union Territory of Daman and Diu, Shah underlined that voters have to choose between the Congress, “which is into appeasement politics”, and BJP that wants to “protect reservation.”

With the BJP’s Daman and Diu candidate Lalu Patel, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli candidate Kalaben Delkar by his side, Shah dubbed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi as a “man born with a silver spoon”. “There are two camps before the people of the country. One camp belongs to a man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and the second camp is of poor tea seller Narendra Modi. On one side, there is a man who worked for 23 years as the chief minister (of Gujarat) and the Prime Minister… who did not take leave and even celebrated Diwali with the jawans on the border. On the other side is Rahul baba who goes to Thailand and Bangkok when summer heat grips India. On one side there is INDIA bloc, involved in corruption and scam to the tune of Rs 12 lakh, and on the other side is a man who worked for 25 years and till date, not a single allegation of corruption has come up against him,” said Shah. He urged the crowd to elect Modi for a third term to “finish terrorism, and naxalism from the country forever and make India the world’s third largest economy”.

On Rahul Gandhi contesting from Rae Bareli, Shah claimed that the Congress leader feared losing from Wayanad. “…He lost the elections in Amethi (2019) and so he went to Wayanad (in Kerala). Now, fearing that he is going to lose from Wayand, he went to Rae Bareli but did not return to Amethi. Rahul baba, please hear my advice — the problem is not with the seat but with you,” Shah said in Bodeli and Daman.

“You are going to lose Rae Bareli by a huge margin. No matter where you run, the people are searching for you… The Congress party is trying to divide the country into north and south India. They cannot be given power,” Shah further added.