Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday reaffirmed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will emerge as the biggest party in all five states of South India on June 4, the day on which counting of votes are scheduled to take place for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
“I stand by my statement. Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu – combining the seats in these 5 states, BJP will emerge as the single largest party,” the senior BJP leader told ANI.
His remark came after the opposition INDIA bloc took a “Dakshin mein BJP saaf aur Uttar mein half” jibe on the ruling BJP. To this, Shah has responded, “BJP will emerge as biggest party in south India on June 4”.
‘BJP will defeat Congress in Raebareli’
Shah expressed confidence that BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh will defeat Congress’ Rahul Gandhi in the Raebareli Lok Sabha constituency, saying the Wayanad MP should have told people in Kerala that he will contest from two seats.
“Stature is built by the people of the country. It is not built by birth…What does democracy mean?…Dinesh Pratap Singh will defeat Rahul Gandhi,” he said as quoted by newswire ANI.
“Anyone can contest from anywhere but Rahul Gandhi should have said before elections that he is going to contest on two seats. I think from the democratic point of view, it is not right to hide it…He should have told the people of Wayanad about it and then asked them to make their choice…,” Shah said.
Rahul Gandhi, the incumbent Member of Parliament from Wayanad, has opted to run again from the constituency. Additionally, he has chosen to contest from Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, a traditional stronghold of the Congress party and a constituency that his mother, Sonia Gandhi, has represented since 2004.
‘INDIA boycotted Ram Mandir event’
Amit Shah criticized the Opposition INDIA bloc for declining the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Pran Pratistha ceremony invite. He alleged that the INDIA bloc refused to attend the Pran Pratistha ceremony of Ram Lalla because “the Muslim vote bank will be upset”.
“The entire Ghamandiya alliance (INDI Alliance) boycotted the Ram Mandir Pran Prathishta ceremony – My clear allegation is that they did this fearing their minority vote bank,” Amit Shah told ANI, harping on the much used ‘minority vote bank’ allegations levelled against INDIA bloc by the saffron camp amid the Lok Sabha Elections.
“…On Eid, you have no issues spending celebrating Eid with Muslim brothers, even though you aren’t Muslim. Still, despite being Hindu, you won’t attend the Ram Mandir Pran Prathistha because your Muslim vote bank will be upset…what kind of politics is this?” he added.
(With ANI inputs)
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Published: 16 May 2024, 09:16 AM IST