Gandhinagar: BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the Congress Vice-President thought of Gujarat as a tourist destination and was not in touch with the state’s ground realities.
Shah, who was in Bhavnagar to accompany state BJP Chief Jitu Vaghani as the latter filed his nomination papers for the upcoming Assembly Elections, claimed that the battle would be fought between BJP’s 'Vikaswaad' (politics of development) and 'Jatiwaad' (politics of caste).
“Rahul Gandhi thinks Gujarat is a tourist destination. If he comes here, he should know the facts about the state. In 2013, the Manmohan Singh government gave only Rs 63,000 crore to Gujarat. Whereas, the BJP gave more in 2014,” said Shah.
“We ensured that water from the Narmada reached areas such as Botad and Khavda. Under BJP, the output of vegetables and cotton has increased,” the BJP national president added.
The leader also took jibes at P Chidambaram and said that while the present government gave “tough answers” to terrorists by conducting surgical strikes, the Congress leader was talk about Azadi (independence) for Kashmir.
“Leaders like Chidambaram and Shashi Tharoor write letters to the Prime Minister, talking about Rohingya Muslims,” Shah said
He further told supporters, “The election of 2017 will determine the future direction of the country. Please bless us so that we can win more than 150 seats this year.”
Shah went on to say that the Congress had no other agenda than to oppose everything done by the Prime Minister. “This is an election where Vikaswaad will fight against Jatiwaad. This year, they (Congress) are trying to take Gujarat back to the days of their KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, Muslim alliance) theory. However, we (BJP), are fighting this election on the back of our development,” he said.
The BJP master strategist further claimed that from 1995 to 2017, BJP had removed the “pall of darkness” from Gujarat’s villages. “During Congress’ rule, anti-social elements ruled the streets. BJP has made this a ‘Curfew-free’ Gujarat,” said the 53-year-old.
He also lauded the steps Narendra Modi has taken for Gujarat after becoming PM. “Ever since Modiji took over as Prime Minister, he has cleared the Narmada dam within 14 days, given Bhavnagar a Ro-Ro ferry and Gujarat has received 33 new trains.”
Gujarat Congress Chief, Bharatsinh Solanki, hit back at the BJP president and said, “The BJP is scared of Rahul Gandhi’s Gujarat visits and that is why they are saying such things. The fact is, the Manmohan Singh government played a key role in the development of Gujarat. The only thing the BJP knows how to do is defaming Rahul Gandhi.”
Solanki further said that the BJP was a “party of magicians” who promise big but do not deliver. “They said that the poor would get 50 lakh houses but the government couldn’t even manage 2 lakh. After 22 years of BJP rule, 40 kilometres of a Narmada sub-canal are still to be constructed. The situation in Kashmir has worsened and many jawans have been martyred,” said the Congress leader.
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