‘Problem not with the seat but with you’: Amit Shah hits out at Rahul Gandhi for contesting from Rae Bareli

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Gujarat that Rahul Gandhi would lose Rae Bareli by a huge margin. He also attacked the INDIA bloc for not having a prime ministerial candidate.

Union Home Minsister Amit Shah during a public meeting in support of BJP candidate SanjayPatil for Lok Sabha elections, at Vita in Sangli district, Friday, May 3, 2024. (PTI Photo)

A day, after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his Lok Sabha nomination from the party bastion of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Gujarat on Saturday that Gandhi has been changing seats “for the fear of losing” the elections. Shah also attacked the INDI alliance for its “rotation formula” for the post of Prime Minister and urged voters not to “hand over power to a divisive party”.

“The Congress’s leader is Rahul Gandhi and they work under his leadership. He lost the elections in Amethi (2019) and so he went to Wayanad (in Kerala). Now, fearing that he is going to lose Wayanad, 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. You are going to lose Rae Bareli by a huge margin. No matter where you run, people are searching for you…,” Shah said at an election rally in Bodeli in Chhota Udepur district. “The Congress party is trying to divide the country into North and South India. They cannot be given power,” Shah added.

Shah also invoked the tribal deities of Devi Rani Kajal Mata, Hafeshwar Dev, and Bhatiji Maharaj while attacking the Congress for being “anti-tribal”.

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Stating that the INDIA bloc, which has decided to “rotate the PM’s term” between them, will jeopardise the country’s safety, Shah said, “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 that when we win and form the government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be our Prime Minister, but if the INDI alliance wins, do you know who will become the PM? Do you know any names? Can Sharad Pawar, Mamtaben (Banerjee), Stalin, or Uddhav Thackery become the PM? Chandrababu Naidu has now come with us… and lastly, can Rahul Baba (Gandhi) become the Prime Minister? Why are you all laughing, he is a tall Congress leader. One INDI alliance leader was asked who would be the Prime Minister. He was in a dilemma and did not have an answer. So he said, everyone will become for one year…”.

He further said, “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 Prime Minister’s term between them for one year each? If a situation like Covid-19 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 said that despite “stealing from the OBC quota in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh”, Congress has been “blaming Modi”. Reiterating that the reservation quotas of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) will remain “untouched” under PM Modi, Shah said, “Under the BJP government, no one has the right to touch the reservation of the SC, ST and OBCs… If anyone has stolen from the reservation quota, it is the Congress and they are blaming Modi. In Karnataka, the Congress government made 4 per cent reservation for Muslims from the OBC reservation. In Andhra Pradesh, they gave 5 per cent reservation to Muslims from the OBC quota. If Rahul Baba and company come into power, they will hand over reservation quota to Muslims… They should first tell the country whether you have decided to withdraw the Muslim reservation from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.”

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