New Delhi: BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday made a strong pitch for formation of a new saffron-party led government in the capital by playing up emotive and high voltage issues such as the Ram Temple, the CAA and the abrogation of Article 370.
“Desh ke crore-o logo ki iccha..... duniya ke crore-o logo ki ichha hae Ram Mandir ban na chahiye (Crores of Indians and crores of those outside India want a Ram Temple where God Ram was born),” said Mr Shah amid thunderous applause from the large gathering.
Addressing BJP booth workers meet, Mr Shah lashed out at the Congress and AAP leadership for spreading falsehood on CAA and pursuing vote bank politics by opposing abrogation of Art 370.
“Do you want a government which will work to spread falsehood and communal rift?,” Mr Shah said with crowd responding enthusiastically saying a big no.
Flaying Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said the AAP leadership should tell it properly what really it has done for the people of Delhi in last five years.
“You said, you will set up 20 colleges....I am trying to find them, where are they? You said 5000 schools will be set up, I am yet to find one”, said BJP chief.
Directing his tirade against Congress, he said after the mayhem against Sikhs in 1984, the Congress never tried to reach out to the aggrieved community.
“The Modi government has given Rs 5 lakh compensation to victims and the wrongdoers have been put behind bars,” the Home Minister said.
Referring to attacks on Sikhs in Pakistan, he said this was a clear testimony to those who questioned the intent of new Citizenship law enacted by the Modi government.
“Now tell me, those Sikhs targeted in Pakistan where else they can go....They have to come to India,” he said adding “don’t you think strongly that the CAA must be implemented effectively”.
“I want to tell minorities, that the CAA has nothing to do with taking away the rights of the citizens,” he said adding leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal are only spreading falsehood and instigate ‘dangey (riots)’.
In an apparent decision that the saffron party may not announce a Chief Ministerial face, he said “BJP will form government in Delhi under the leadership of Narendra Modi”.
In 2015, the saffron party had named former police officer Kiran Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate but the move had boomeranged.
Lashing out at AAP and Congress, he said these parties have sided with ‘Tukde Tukde gang’ (a reference to anti-India forces) and Delhi government even did not give permission to prosecute the guilty.
He said it has been motivated purely by vote bank politics that the opposition parties opposed abrogation of the Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mr Shah urged party workers not to keep the battle of Delhi polls confined to election rallies and meetings but suggested that each Delhiite ought to be approached as part of a massive house to house campaign.
The BJP, which at one time had a strong base in the capital, is out of power in Delhi since 1998 November.
Elections to the 70-member Delhi assembly are expected by second week of February. (UNI)