Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday inaugurated the 'Kaushambi Festival 2023' in Uttar Pradesh and he hit out at the Congress saying that the party's politics of dynasty and autocracy by one family is in danger. "They (Congress) say democracy is in danger. It is not democracy that is in danger, it is your family that is in danger. People don't want the Idea of India to remain in danger. The idea of one dynasty, your politics promoting your (Gandhi) family is in danger. It's not India's democracy that is in danger, but the autocracy of your family that is in danger," he said.
The senior BJP leader accused the grand old party of plaguing Indian democracy with "casteism, dynastic politics, and appeasement". "PM Modi defeated casteist politics in a way that the SP and the BSP are nowhere to be seen. He defeated dynastic parties and ended appeasement. This is why you are scared," he added.
Shah also slammed opposition protest over the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as Lok Sabha member, saying: "The (Parliament) session ended yesterday. Never in the history of independent India had the Budget session ended without one proper discussion. Opposition members didn't let Parliament function, the reason was Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a member."
"Supreme Court implemented this law with its judgment. Manmohan Singh wanted to amend it to protect Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rahul stopped him. Surat Court convicted Rahul and he was disqualified. So far, 17 members have been expelled and the same happened with Rahul. For this, Congress MPs wore black attires and stalled Parliament proceedings."
"I want to tell Rahul that it's the duty of all citizens to follow the law and you were a parliamentarian. You can challenge the conviction and fight it out in court. You have wasted Parliament's time, the country will not forgive you for it," he remarked.
Referring to the former Wayanad MP's recent remarks in London, he questioned if any Indian politician should "bad mouth" the country abroad. "You have ample space here, you choose your ground. The BJP will be ready to respond to your remarks," the senior BJP leader added.
Amit Shah is on a day-long visit to Uttar Pradesh. Later in the day, he will lay the foundation stone of various development projects worth Rs 4,567 crore in Azamgarh, news agency PTI reported officials as saying.
He will lay the foundation stone of the Hariharpur Sangeet Mahavidyalaya at Namdarpur in Azamgarh, they said.