LUCKNOW: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday attacked the Congress for keeping the issues of Article 370 and Ram Janmabhoomi pending for seven decades.
“The Congress opposed the Ram temple. PM Modi got it built and did the consecration of Ram Lalla in his final abode as well. Our government killed Pakistani terrorists by entering their territory. We ended terrorism from Kashmir,” he said while addressing a rally in Muzaffarnagar in support of Union Minister and BJP candidate Sanjeev Balyan seeking a third term from the same constituency.
Shah said that the opposition alliance, which includes Akhilesh Yadav's party and the Congress in UP, never wanted the Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya.
Drawing a contrast between the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and the INDIA bloc, led allegedly by dynasts and the leaders with alleged complicity in corruption, Shah exhorted the people of Muzaffarnagar to vote for the BJP in order to accomplish the target of "400 seats."
Underscoring PM Modi's popularity and the track record of his decade-long governance, Shah said it was an election to make him the Prime Minister for the third time as he had done much for the uplift of the poor and farmers.
“He has made many changes by making a national policy for sugarcane. When the Congress was in power, the FRP of sugarcane was Rs 210 per quintal. Today it has been taken Rs 340 per quintal,” he said.
Shah said that 19 sugar mills were closed during the BSP’s rule and 10 were shut during the SP’s rule.
“During the BJP’s rule, more than 20 sugar mills were revived and our government has also done the work of building five new sugar mills,” he said.
All praise for the Yogi Adityanath government for bringing about a marked improvement in law and order scenario of the state, especially the western region, Shah said that when he had come here in 2014, migration was a major issue in Kairana, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur.
“You formed the BJP government in 2017 and the Yogi government stopped the terror of goons here, stopped migration and made people feel safe,” he said. “The arrogant alliance stitched in this election is a congregation of people involved in scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore. Its goal is to make people from their family Prime Minister and Chief Minister, whereas PM Modi’s aim is to strengthen the country's farmers, poor, labourers, Dalits, tribals and make them stand on their feet," he asserted.
Earlier, sharing the stage with the Union Home Minister, newly-inducted NDA ally RLD chief Jayant Chaudhury took a jibe at SP chief Akhilesh Yadav without taking his name. He said the fight for Muzaffarnagar was an issue of prestige for him and asked voters to save his pride.
“I have never said anything against ‘him’ (Akhilesh Yadav) personally nor will I do it ever irrespective of the abuses hurled at me,” said the RLD chief.
Notably, the SP-RLD alliance fell apart over the Muzaffarnagar seat. While Jayant wanted it, calling it his family legacy, Akhilesh was adamant at not leaving it for the RLD and fielded Harendra Mallik, a former MLA, from there.
Muzaffarnagar will go to the polls in the first phase on April 19. Of the 27 seats in western UP, the BJP had won 19, losing eight to the SP-BSP-RLD grand alliance in 2019.
