AHMEDABAD: Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed at the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Gujarat’s Sanand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taught such a lesson to rioters in 2002 that no one has dared to cause riots again in the state.
"In 2002, there were riots and thereafter Modi taught a lesson not to repeat the act. Have there been any riots since then? Rioters were given such a lesson in 2002 that no one dares to cause riots in Gujarat to this day," Shah claimed at the event on Saturday.
Referencing the Indian Army's 2016 surgical strike, Shah further claimed that PM Modi "taught Pakistan a lesson" and had "made the country safer."
"Previously, bomb blasts occurred daily; in fact, there were so many bomb blasts the press forgot to cover the news; no one cared. But with a surgical and air strike we taught Pakistan a lesson...Narendra Modi has made the country safer."
The Home Minister also thanked PM Modi for the Ayodhya Ram temple, ISRO's successful lunar mission of landing Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon's south pole and the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir — a contentious move that was upheld by the Supreme Court last week.
"Since the period of Sardar Patel and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the ambition of eliminating Article 370 from Kashmir has gone unmet. However, Prime Minister Modi quickly erased Article 370... In our own country, Lord Ram lived in a tent for 550 years, and the temple could not be erected, but Narendra Modi completed the process of building the temple in an instant," the senior BJP leader proclaimed.
"The entire world had reached the moon, but your national flag did not reach and Narendra Modi sent Chandrayaan-3 to the moon and hoisted the national flag at Shiva Shakti Point," Shah alleged.
In the evening, Amit Shah addressed the 66th convocation ceremony at Sardar Patel University in Anand district and accused the Congress government of failing to treat Sardar Patel with respect and dignity.
"It is unfortunate that Sardar Patel's work has not received the recognition and reputation it deserves. Sardar Patel, a remarkable personality, did not even receive the Bharat Ratna until the end of the Congress government. Congress did an excellent job of opposing all attempts to commemorate him. However, once Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, the world's tallest statue of Sardar Patel was erected." he claimed.