New Delhi: Union minister Amit Shah on Friday asserted that there was "no issue bigger than national security" and slammed the opposition parties, saying while the BJP was committed to this aim, the Congress and the AAP were indulging in "appeasement politics" to keep their vote bank intact.
Addressing an election rally in support of the BJP candidate in the Shakur Basti seatconstituency, he also alleged that "Shaheen Bagh was the vote bank" of the Congress and the AAP.
The Union home minister, in his address also reiterated that work will begun in four months on construction of a grand and sky-high Ram Temple in Ayodhya within the next four months.
He also kept asking the crowd, who is the vote bank of the Congress and the AAP, to which they chanted, "Shaheen Bagh".
The anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh, going on for nearly 50 days in south Delhi, has been thrusted by political parties as a poll issue, with the BJP using the issue vociferously in its campaigns.
"People of Delhi, there is no issue bigger than national security. Delhi's future and India's security has to ascertained ('desh ki surakha se badkaa koi mudda nahin hai')," Shah said at the Shakur Basti rally.
Attacking the previous dispensation at the Centre, he said, earlier Pakistan would attack Indian soldiers and mutilate their bodies, and the "silent PM" would not say anything.
"But now the Prime Minister is Modi with a 56-inch chest and within few days of Uri and Pulwama attacks, surgical strike and airstrike were conducted and our soldiers gave a befitting reply to the terrorists. And the whole country felt a sense of pride," Shah said.
He said, after these strikes, the Congress and the AAP were asking for proof, adding "these parties who indulge in appeasement politics sought evidence. The evidence could be on Pakistani channels, as people were wailing".
Training his guns at the AAP and the Congress over Shaheen Bagh protests, he said "two camps" can clearly be seen in Delhi.
"It is a battle of ideologies. On one side is a strong party and the Modi-led government which puts national security above everything else and committed to it, without worrying about any vote bank loss, and on the other hand, there is this Rahul and Co, and Kejriwal and Co, which are indulging in appeasement politics to keep their vote bank intact," Shah said.
He again alleged that the opposition has been speaking the language of Pakistan and its Prime Minister Imran Khan on issues like abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35 A, surgical strikes, Ram Mandir and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Delhi polls are due on February 8 and in the rally Union minister Harsh Vardhan and Shakur Basti candidate S C Vats were also present.
He urged the voters of the constituency to chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai" so loud that it reaches the ears of anti-CAA protesters.
"When you push the button on the polling day, the current should reach Shaheen Bagh. The AAP and the Congress say they are with Shaheen Bagh. I have to come to ask you people, are you with Shaheen Bagh," he said.
Shah also attacked Kejriwal over other issues, including fleet of DTC buses, water quality and Yamuna cleansing.
"I would like to tell Kejriwal from this public forum, if he can take a dip in the Yamuna river, I will believe that the river is cleansed. If you have to see cleaning of a river, you should have gone to Prayagraj (Allahabad) durig Kumbh and seen the cleaning of the Ganga done by Modiji and Yogiji," he said.
"If voted to power, in one year, the BJP will ensure clean water for people of Delhi," he claimed.
On abrogation of Article 370 provisions that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "Nehru had made the provision and for 70 years it laid so, but the Modi government came and removed it and Jammu and Kashmir became an integral part of the country," he said.
"We are not afraid of losing any vote bank, our entire focus is on keeping India safe," he added. Shah also said that he got anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam arrested after his controversial speech.
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