'Illegal Settlers' in India Took Away Jobs of Youths: Amit Shah

Shivpuri (MP): BJP president Amit Shah Tuesday said "illegal infiltrators" took away jobs of youths in the country and alleged that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and other opposition parties had opposed the NRC when 40 lakh such settlers were identified under the exercise.

Addressing a convention of BJP workers at Polo Ground in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri region, Shah said the BJP governments would "drive each and every infiltrator out of the country" after winning elections in 2018 and 2019.

Taking a dig at Gandhi, Shah said he should "stop daydreaming" about the Congress coming to power after elections.

Referring to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam, he said the BJP government would drive each of the 40 lakh "illegal infiltrators" out of the country as the party stands for national security and rights of Indians.

"When the NRC identified 40 lakh illegal migrants in Assam, Rahul baba and parties like the SP (Samajwadi Party), BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) and Trinmool Congress (TMC) raised a hue and cry and opposed the exercise," Shah said.

He said the youths of the country lost their jobs to the illegal immigrants.

"These migrants took away the jobs of our youths. They (opposition parties) lacked concern for our youths and for the hunger of the people of this country. We will drive each infiltrator out after winning elections in 2018 and 2019," he said.

Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in the next two months in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram.

While first three of the above states are currently ruled by the BJP, the Congress is in power in the northeastern state. Telangana was ruled by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) before chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the assembly. Lok Sabha elections are slated to be held next year.

"Rahul Baba should stop daydreaming. The Congress' condition is that it would (soon) be difficult to find them even with the help of binoculars," Shah said.

He said the Congress lacked any issues with which it could go to the people seeking votes in the Madhya Pradesh polls.

"How can the Congress succeed in winning polls in Madhya Pradesh? Will you seek votes from people with the help of a 'raja' (former chief minister Digvijaya Singh who is an erstwhile royal), a 'maharaja' (former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia who is a royal descendant) and an industrialist (state Congress chief Kamal Nath) who have never seen poverty?" he questioned.

Shah said Madhya Pradesh became a BIMARU state in the rule of the then chief minister Digvijaya Singh, whereas Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan pulled the state out of poverty and turned it into a developed state.

Digvijaya Singh had helmed the state between 1993 to 2003.

"The state budget under the then Congress government was only Rs 20,000 crore, which has gone up to Rs 2 lakh crore. The per capita income has also shot up to Rs 80,000 from Rs 15,000.

"Simultaneously, power generation has also increased from 3000 MW to 18000 MW under the BJP rule. During the time of the Congress, people of the state used to receive power supply for only 3 to 5 hours everyday," the BJP chief claimed.

Turning to Rahul Gandhi, Shah said the Congress chief had "insulted" jawans by asking for evidence of surgical strike conducted by the Army on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in 2016.

"During the Congress regime, Pakistan used to threaten India. Our government taught a lesson to Pakistan through the surgical strike. But Rahul baba was asking for the proof," Shah claimed.

"After our government conducted the surgical strike, even mediapersons who used to talk about 'Mauni Baba' (a jibe the BJP uses to attack former PM Manmohan Singh) became silent," Shah said.

He claimed that before the surgical operation, the US and Israel were the only countries known to avenge death of their soldiers, but the prime minister added India's name to the list.

Shah announced that the BJP-led governments across the country would celebrate the birth centenary year of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, one of the founder members of the BJP.

Before addressing the convention, Shah garlanded statue of Tatya Tope, a general in the 1857 rebellion against the British, at Shivpuri and recalled his contribution.

After addressing BJP workers, Shah travelled to Guna, around 90 kms from Shivpuri, where he held a roadshow, after offering prayers at a Hanuman temple.

Guna is the Lok Sabha constituency of state Congress campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia.

BJP leaders, including Chouhan, state unit president Rakesh Singh, MP Prabhat Jha and others participated in the roadshow.