It’s Rahul, who enjoys vacations abroad, vs Modi who celebrates Diwali with jawans: Shah

PTI, May 26, 2024, 2:15 PM IST

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the ongoing Lok Sabha polls were a choice between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who celebrated Diwali among Armymen, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who ”rushes abroad for vacations whenever the weather becomes uncomfortable”.

Addressing a rally in Karakat Lok Sabha constituency of Bihar, Shah also dubbed the INDIA bloc as the one comprising ”scamsters guilty of financial wrongdoings worth Rs 12 lakh crore” which was taking on Modi, ”with an unblemished record during the 23 years he was CM (of Gujarat) and the PM”.

He also said that unlike Gandhi, who was ”born with a silver spoon”, Modi has worked hard to reach the top, coming from an ”ati pichhda (extremely backward class) family” and selling tea at one point of time to make ends meet.

The former BJP president slammed the Congress for being ”scared of Pakistan’s atomic bombs” and asserted that his government, which has scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, was resolved to claim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir ”which was ours, is ours and shall remain ours”.

Shah also lambasted parties opposed to the BJP for providing reservations, in states ruled by them, ”to Muslims, cutting into the share of SCs, STs and OBCs” and asserted that Modi has resolved to put an end to this.

He also charged the opposition parties with having been opposed to the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya which finally took place with Modi at the helm.

Shah was canvassing for NDA partner Upendra Kushwaha, one of whose main challengers is a candidate of CPI(ML) Liberation.

Shah reminded the people of the Naxal violence, which used to keep Bihar in the headlines a few decades back, and warned that a victory for the Left party could lead to a fresh spurt in similar incidents.

Widely regarded as the BJP’s principal strategist, Shah also claimed that the NDA had ”notched up 310 seats in the first five phases” of the Lok Sabha polls and in the last two legs, it was on course to achieve the target of 400-plus.