Congress belongs to NGOs, can never do any development: Amit Shah in Khambhaliya

Isudan Gadhvi, the chief ministerial face of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is also fighting from the same seat.

In reference to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Shah said, “Nobody had the guts to (rebuild) since Babar destroyed it. It is Gujarat’s son Narendra Modi who laid the foundation stone of Ram Janmabhoomi.”

With respect to the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi, the Union Minister said, “Since Aurangzeb destroyed the temple, Baba Vishwanath was abandoned. If anyone had to do an “abhishek” of Kashi Vishwanath, then they had to travel 14 kilometres to reach Ganga. Narendrabhai made a grand Kashi Vishwanath corridor and one can now easily walk to the river Ganga,” he said.

Shah also highlighted the development works carried out during PM Modi’s term at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Mahakal Mandir, Somnath, Ambaji and Pavagadh. Pointing out Congress’s objections to the removal of illegal constructions from Beyt Dwarka, Shah said, “I want to congratulate Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Harsh Sanghavi (home minister) for operating bulldozers and removing the illegal constructions that have been made over the past several years at Beyt Dwarka.”

Apart from Khambhaliya, Shah also addressed rallies in Kodinar and Mangrol seats of Saurashtra that are also currently held by the Congress and have a sizeable Muslim population. He later went to Diu and flew to Kutch district where he addressed a fourth rally at Bhuj. BJP candidate from Jamnagar North, Rivaba Jadeja, was also among the leaders who met him.

Narrating how Saurashtra had faced droughts, Shah said, “Water trains from Gandhinagar used to be brought to Rajkot.” There was no water even for cooking purposes. “When Narendrabhai became the chief minister, he sat on a fast and forced the Congress (running the government in Delhi) to increase the height of the dam and install gates. BJP has done the work of providing Narmada waters to a thirsty Saurashtra,” he said.

He stressed that while the foundation stone of the Narmada dam was laid in 1963, it was not built until 2003.

“Because they were worried that if water reaches the land of Sardar Patel and Morarji Desai—who used to always challenge the Gandhi-Nehru family—then development will happen in four corners. They stopped the waters and people made Narendrabhai the chief minister in 2002. He started a fast in 2005,” he said.

Accusing the Congress of fighting the polls based on caste, Shah said the BJP was contesting keeping the industrial growth and development of Gujarat in the forefront. The BJP government not only gave “free coffee and vaccine doses” during the Covid-19 pandemic but also distributed “free-of-cost food grains” for over two years. “During Congress rule in Gujarat, businesses and investments used to flee the state due to corruption. Today, the highest number of MSMEs are in Gujarat and the state attracts the maximum investments,” he claimed.

His speech was littered with references to Article 370 in Kashmir, surgical strikes on Pakistan and improvement of India’s image globally. Targeting AAP, Shah said, “I want to ask AAP, that your candidate for the Lok Sabha polls was Medha Patkar. It is because of her, there was a 20-year delay for waters of Narmada to reach Saurashtra and Kutch. She is an AAP leader. I want to tell the workers and candidates who are campaigning with the AAP election symbol to seek forgiveness from the people of Gujarat. Do you want to accept such a party,” Shah asked the audience who responded with a “no”.

Addressing a similar rally at Kodinar in Gir Somnath district, Shah admitted that he had last visited the constituency in 2017. The seat is with the Congress. “The first bullet train has come to Gujarat. The state also got the first nano urea plant,” Shah said while listing out the development works that the BJP government has done in the state.

At Mangrol seat in Junagadh district, the Union home minister remembered Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for ensuring Junagadh did not become a territory of Pakistan. “Till the time the Congress was in power, Sardar Patel was not given a Bharat Ratna,” he added.