New Delhi: In a fiery retort to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge for questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invocation of the removal of the constitutional privileges under Article 370 from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir at a rally in Rajasthan’s Churu, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the grand old party of not doing so during its tenure to safeguard its “vote bank”.
Addressing a public meeting at Alwar in Rajasthan on Saturday, the Union Home Minister said, “The Congress president was here attending a public rally in Rajasthan some time back. He asked if the people of Rajasthan have anything to do with Jammu and Kashmir. I want to ask you all today: Is Kashmir a part of India or not? Should Article 370 not have been removed (Jammu and Kashmir)? The Congress ruled the country for the longest time since independence but did not remove Article 370 (from Jammu and Kashmir) for the sake of safeguarding its vote bank. It wasn’t until August 5, 2019 that Modi-ji put an end to Article 370 in one legislative stroke and worked to restore the primacy of the Tricolour in the erstwhile state.”
Also hitting out at the grand old party for turning down the invitation to the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ or ceremonial enthronement of Lord Ram Lalla at the grand temple in Ayodhya, Shah said, “As you are all aware, the Congress failed to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya in all the years it was in power at the Centre. However, when the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas sent them an invitation to the Bhoomi Pujan (ground-breaking ceremony) for the temple, they spurned that too. The Congress has failed abjectly in acknowledging and upholding our religious sentiments and pride.”
“Modi-ji didn’t just raise the Ram Temple (on the ruins of the Babri mosque) but also developed the Vishwanath corridor while also giving us the Mahakal Corridor (in Ujjain). It is also under his leadership that the Somnath temple (in Gujarat) is being recast in gold and the Kedarnath Dham and Badrinath Dham, which are avowed centres of pilgrimage in the country for decades, are getting makeovers,” he added.
Also accusing the Congress of spreading canards over the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project, the Union Home Minister said, “Congress stands against river linking projects. I urge you not to fall for their falsehoods as the whole of Alwar will get water under the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project. I have already conveyed to (CM) Bhajanlal Sharma that every home in Alwar will get water under this project.”
“The Congress is anti-OBC. It was PM Modi who gave constitutional recognition to the OBC Commission,” he added.