GUWAHATI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday claimed the BJP would win more than 300 seats in next year’s Lok Sabha elections and form the government at the Centre for the third time in a row.
“The 2024 Lok Sabha elections are coming up. I want to tell the Congress that the BJP will win 12 of Assam’s 14 seats and Narendra Modiji will become the Prime Minister again with the BJP winning more than 300 seats,” Shah told a gathering after laying the foundation stone of a regional office of the BJP at Dibrugarh in Assam.
He lashed out at the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi after pointing out the BJP’s success in the recent elections in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
“The BJP is a part of the government in the three states. There was a time when the Northeast was considered the home of the Congress. The elections in the three states were held in the aftermath of Rahul Baba travelling around the country but the Congress suffered 'soopda saaf' (got wiped out). The Congress is not seen anywhere but Rahul Baba will not understand it,” Shah said.
The home minister said Rahul goes abroad and “defames” the country, and warned that if the Congress leader keeps treading on this path, the Congress would get wiped out across the country.
“Modiji earned respect for India worldwide, protected the country, ended insurgency in the Northeast, visited the region more than 50 times, gave momentum to development and brought about various programmes and the Congress says ‘Modi teri kabar khudegi’…
“But the 130 crore Indians are praying day and night for Modiji’s long life. The more you go after Modiji which your mother has also done, the lotus will sprout out that much strongly,” Shah said attacking Rahul.
He attributed the removal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from 70% areas of Assam, prevailing peaceful atmosphere in Bodoland and Karbi Anglong regions, the surrender of eight Adivasi insurgent groups and Assam’s ongoing efforts to resolve its border disputes with some states to Modi’s good governance.
“After the BJP retained power in Assam, over 41,000 youth got jobs. Twelve medical colleges have been built while 12 more are going to be built. Assam, which was once known for agitation and insurgency, is celebrating Bihu. Modiji is now going to give AIIMS to Assam on the occasion of Bihu,” Shah said.
Highlighting the various steps of the Modi government for the development of the Northeast, he said the Centre spent Rs 2.65 lakh crore for infrastructure from 2014. He said the funds for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region had been also increased by 65%.