Accusing leaders of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc of caring only about the political ambitions of their kin, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on March 5 said that those who worked only for the welfare of their sons, daughters, and nephews were incapable of working for the welfare of the country.
Addressing a massive rally in Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), Mr. Shah said that leaders in the INDIA bloc of parties did not “practice the politics of principles but of dynasty”.
“There are two camps ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election. One, the NDA alliance under PM Modi’s leadership, the other, an arrogant INDIA alliance under Rahul Gandhi which is a coalition of dynastic parties. Sonia Gandhi’s aim is to make Rahul Gandhi the next PM. Sharad Pawar’s aim is to make his daughter [Supriya Sule] the next CM of Maharashtra. Uddhav Thackeray’s aim is to see his son [Aaditya] as CM. Mamata Banerjee’s aim is to make his nephew [Abhishek Banerjee] the CM of West Bengal. Those who work for their sons, daughters and nephews cannot think of their country,” Mr. Shah said.
Mr. Shah is on a two-day visit to the State amid seat-sharing turmoil within the ruling Mahayuti parties (Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, the BJP, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP). Prior to his rally, he held pre-election meetings with local leaders in Akola while attending a youth conclave in Jalgaon. He is also expected to hold meetings with CM Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar to iron out the seat-sharing arrangements.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shah took particular aim at NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray - leaders of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra - during his speech.
He lashed out at Mr. Thackeray for consorting with those parties (Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP) who had opposed the renaming of Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (after the Maratha warrior-king Sambhaji, Shivaji’s son who was cruelly executed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1689).
“Uddhav Thackeray should be ashamed of himself. The parties with whom you are consorting with had opposed the removal of Article 370 from Kashmir, the surgical strike on terrorists, and had blocked the name change of Aurangabad from Sambhajinagar. How can those who side with parties which had opposed Bal Thackeray’s dream [of seeing Aurangabad changed to Sambhajinagar] claim to be his legatees?” Mr. Shah said.
The senior BJP leader said that the ruling NDA had not just a track record of 10 years of good governance but also a roadmap for the next 25 years as opposed to the allegedly floundering INDIA bloc.
“I want to ask Sharad Pawar if he knows how little his government [alluding to UPA and the Centre] has given to Maharashtra. In contrast, PM Modi has given four times the amount that the UPA had given to the State during our regime. Our work of the past decade is far weightier than your [Congress-NCP] rule of more than 40 years in the State,” Mr. Shah claimed.
Listing the BJP and PM Modi’s achievements in the past five years in scrapping Article 370 and building the Ram Temple among others, Mr. Shah recalled how Rahul Gandhi had opposed him in Parliament during the debate over scrapping Article 370, while claiming that “rivers of blood” would flow in Kashmir.
The Sambhajinagar Lok Sabha seat is currently held by Imtiaz Jaleel of the AIMIM, led by Asaduddin Owaisi.
Launching a blistering attack on the AIMIM, Mr. Shah exhorted the audience “to throw out the Majlis from Sambhajinagar” and “gift a lotus to PM Modi” in the upcoming election.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy CM and Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, took aim at both Uddhav Thackeray and Mr. Jaleel, by remarking, “Had this MP [from Sambhajinagar] raised his hand for the abolition of article 370? Had he supported the building of the Ram Mandir? But the situation is such today that even those whom we had considered our own [Mr. Thackeray] is going and sitting in the ranks of those who had opposed the scrapping of Article 370.”
Among those present on the dais were Pankaja Munde, who has had a stiff relationship with the BJP’s top brass, and ex-Congressman, former Maharashtra CM and current Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan - an influential leader in the Marathwada region who recently joined the BJP.
“I want to assure Mr. Shah that the BJP and the NDA alliance will garner the maximum Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra… while at one time we were on opposing sides, we are now together,” Mr. Chavan said, adding that he had never criticised the development work being done by PM Modi even during his time with the Congress.
