Lakhimpur Kheri | Ensure Teni’s victory, will make him bada aadmi: Amit Shah

Speaking at a BJP rally in Kheri with Ajay Mishra standing by his side, Shah called him a “young politician” and said: “Mai desh bhar me jaata hoon, lagbhag 250 seeton par ye 6 maah mein gaya. Har ek jagah kehte hain ki hamare saansad ko mantri bana dena bhaiya… Magar Kheeri waalon, aapko to humne bana banaya mantri dene ka kaam kiya hai. Ye Ajay Mishra ko yahan se jeeta do, unko bada aadmi banane ka kaam mai karunga. (I travel across the country and have covered about 250 seats in the last six months. At every place, people demand that their MP is made a minister. The people of Kheri, we have already given you a minister. Ensure the victory of Ajay Mishra and I assure you that I will make him a big man).”

Ajay Mishra, 63, is at present Union Minister of State for Home in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), brought in by his government, Shah said that the Congress and Samajwadi Party would revoke it if they came to power. “Modi ji has brought the law of giving citizenship CAA to those who have come from Pakistan like Hindus, Sikhs, Budhhists, Jains. Many people in Kheri do not have citizenship… (Congress leader) Rahul (Gandhi) and (SP chief) Akhilesh (Yadav) say they would remove the CAA. Now, no one can do that. We will felicitate each and every brothers and sisters who have come from Pakistan and Bangladesh by giving them the citizenship,” Shah said.

Accusing the Congress of stalling the Ram temple issue for 70 years “in the name of court cases), Shah said, “When you made Modi the prime minister for the second time, he not only won the legal dispute involving the Ram Janmabhoomi, but also performed the bhoomi puja (groundbreaking ceremony) of the Ram temple and its pran pratishtha (consecration) was held in January.”

Claiming that the Opposition parties did not attend the consecration ceremony of the temple as they were afraid of their vote bank, the BJP leader said, “Unki vote bank kaun hai jaante ho na? Aap nahi ho… Unki vote bank alag hai. Jo Ram ke kaaj se dar jaye, Uttar Pradesh uske saath nahi rah sakta (Do you know who is their vote bank? It’s not you. Their vote bank is different. Uttar Pradesh will never support those who shy away from Lord Ram’s work.)”

Referring to SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav’s statement in which he said the Ram temple issue was “bekar” (useless), Shah said, “Ram Gopal says the temple is useless. Remember me, though it is not going to happen, if the opposition parties come to power, they will put a Babri naam ka tala (Babri lock) at the Ram temple.”

He alleged, “The Congress, SP and BSP are defaming BJP and Modi ji by spreading falsehood. They are saying that if Modi ji gets 400 seats then reservation will end… When Congress got a majority in Karnataka, five per cent reservation was given to Muslims. It went from the OBC quota. In Andhra Pradesh, the reservation was given to Muslims. There too, reservation for backward classes was cut. If BJP gets majority then we will end the anti-constitutional Muslim reservation and give it to the backward classes.”

Shah also addressed rallies in support of BJP candidates in Hardoi and Kannauj districts. In Kannauj, where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting against BJP’s sitting MP Subrat Pathak, Shah said that if the Congress and SP would win even a single seat, the crackers would be burnt in joy in Pakistan.

Lakhimpur Kheri will go to polls in the fourth phase of the election on May 13.