AHMEDABAD: In a strong defence of the BJP’s core electoral strength, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday sought to remind Gujarat voters how the party “taught a lesson” to the perpetrators of violence in 2002.
The 2002 Gujarat riots triggered three-day communal carnage across the state after the train burning incident in Godhra on February 27 that year. “The BJP established permanent peace in Gujarat by firmly dealing with the perpetrators of violence,” he said while addressing a rally in Mahudha town of Kheda district.
“Before 1995 during the Congress rule in the state, communal riots were rampant. Congress used to incite people of different communities and castes to fight against each other. Through such riots, Congress strengthened its vote bank and did injustice to a large section of the society,” said Shah. “Anti-social elements indulged in violence in the state as the Congress supported them,” he added.
Shah said the state witnessed riots in 2002 because perpetrators had become emboldened due to the support of Congress. “After the perpetrators were taught a lesson in 2002, they left the path of violence. They have lost the strength to indulge in violence in the last two decades. The BJP established permanent peace in Gujarat by taking strict action against those who ignited communal violence,” said Shah.
Shah also criticized the Congress over corruption. “In a decade of the UPA government from 2004 to 2014, scams worth Rs 12 lakh-crore took place. During the Congress rule, there were so many scams that one could not even count them. However, the BJP rule has been clean. This is the difference between the two parties,” said Shah. He alleged that the Congress only talked about removing poverty. “In reality, they work for their own interests only,” he said.
“They got votes in the name of poverty but did nothing for the poor. Instead of removing poverty, they removed the poor. Congress leaders only filled their houses with money,” Shah said. The elections for the 182-member Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for abrogating Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, Shah alleged that the Congress was against it because of its “vote bank”. Meanwhile, three persons were arrested for allegedly flying a camera-mounted drone near a venue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally at Bavla village in Ahmedabad district, the police said, PTI reported.
Modi addressed a rally at the village on Thursday as part of the BJP’s campaign for the state Assembly polls. Flying drones near the venue had been banned by the district collector for security reasons.
Before the rally, police spotted some persons using a remote-controlled drone to capture the visuals of the crowd, said inspector Bharat Patel, a local police officer. “These three local men were capturing visuals of the crowd for their personal purpose. We arrested them and booked them under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 188 (violating official orders),” he said.