Rohit Kumar
NEW DELHI, Apr 22: For the first time in the current election campaign in West Bengal, the union home minister Amit Shah made any reference to the Congress, a party considered to be a non-starter in the state, only to emphasize that the party would not be able even to open its account in the state.
“I wanted to tell Rahul Gandhi that the Congress won’t be able to open its account in West Bengal,” Mr Shah said addressing a poll rally in Dum Dum Uttar on Wednesday. He said in Assam, Congress would face its biggest defeat ever, in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Congress would not even cross double digits. “Cast your votes to create infiltrator-free Bengal, not for any MLA or to form BJP government,” Mr Shah said harping on the BJP’s campaign focus of the ruling TMC encouraging infiltration for its vote bank.
“Tell me- should anyone get the exemption to enter four marriages in West Bengal? You know who is doing this. The easy way to stop this is to press the ‘Lotus’ symbol, and we will bring UCC (Uniform Civil Code) in the state, which will put an end to Triple Talaq and end the provision to hold four marriages.”
“The time has come to remove Mamata Banerjee. She has left Bengal in the hands of goons. Do you want to make ‘Bhaipo’ the CM? Mamata Banerjee is misleading the public by saying that the CM will be from outside the state. I am declaring today that the CM of Bengal would be the one who was born in the state, who has studied in Bengali language and is a Bengali speaking person. It will not be ‘Bhaipo’, but a BJP worker.”
“The BJP govt will transfer Rs 3000 per month into the accounts of women. The 7th Pay Commission will be implemented, and DA will be paid to government employees. Financial assistance of Rs 3000 will be transferred to the accounts of the unemployed youth. Our govt will expand the Kolkata Metro three times. We have made a roadmap for the development of Kolkata.”
Launching a scathing attack on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, he said in Rahul Gandhi’s company, the Congress chief’s language has also deteriorated.
On Tuesday, he said the president of the opposition party, Mallikarjun Kharge, “breached every standard of public conduct” and “brought shame to the nation” by calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “terrorist.” In a post on
“Today, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Ji breached every standard of public conduct and brought shame to the nation by calling the elected Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi Ji, a terrorist. This insult to the foremost leader of the nation is an insult to the millions of people who love and support Modi Ji,” he added.
The home minister said calling a leader like PM Modi, who has completely curbed terrorism in the country in the last 12 years, a terrorist was highly condemnable. “Every time the Congress hurls abuses at Modi Ji, it is the people of India who answer them. This time too, the people will respond,” he said.
Kharge on Tuesday accused Modi of “terrorising” political parties by misusing the government machinery and central agencies to stifle the opposition, triggering strong reactions from the ruling BJP, which attacked the opposition leader for calling the prime minister a “terrorist.”
A delegation of senior BJP leaders on Wednesday met the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding its complaint seeking action against Mr Kharge for his “terrorist” remark against Mr Modi. The delegation comprised Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Kiren Rijiju, and Arjun Ram Meghwal, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, and Om Pathak, told the ECI that the Congress president violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). It said that such “rhetoric lowers the level of campaign discourse, inflamed passions, and undermined free and fair elections.”
The party requested the ECI to direct the Congress president to submit a public apology and retract his comment, and that appropriate campaign restrictions or other corrective measures should be imposed on him. The BJP also wanted penal and regulatory proceedings; a direction to the media and social media platforms to take down the impugned statement; and bar on its use in campaign material and digital publicity.
At a press conference in Chennai on Tuesday Mr Kharge had initially referred to the Prime Minister as a “terrorist” while criticizing the AIADMK’s alliance with the BJP. However, when pressed by reporters to clarify the context of the remark, the Congress president said he meant the Prime Minister was “terrorising” the democratic fabric of the country.
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