AHMEDABAD : Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that the BJP has secured its first victory in the Lok Sabha elections from the Surat constituency even before the counting of votes, attributing it to the “foresightedness” of the people of Gujarat.
“In 2014 and 2019, the wonderful people of Gujarat endorsed Narendra Modi’s leadership by giving all 26 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP. This time taking it a step further, even before the counting, people have ensured that the account has already been opened in Surat... Now, a hat-trick awaits in the remaining 25 seats, and representatives in the name of Narendra Modi will be sent to Parliament,” Shah said at an election rally at Jamkandorna in Rajkot district.
BJP’s Surat nominee Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed after Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination was rejected for allegedly forging the signatures of his proposers, and others withdrew from the fray. Shah expressed the confidence that the BJP is leading in the seats that went to polls in two phases on April 19 and 26. “Two phases have been completed. Do you want to know the results? Will you keep it a secret? Do not tell it to anyone… After two phases, it is now clear that Rahul Gandhi is finished. From east to west and north to south, there is only one resounding sound…that of Modi, Modi, Modi. The whole country has decided to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister for the third term,” Shah said while campaigning for BJP candidate Mansukh Mandaviya in Porbandar constituency.
Taking a jibe at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the BJP leader said, “Congress president Kharge says, ‘what have people of Gujarat and Rajasthan got to do with Kashmir’. I want to tell him, ‘Kharge saheb, you are over 80 years old, but you still haven’t grasped the essence of our nation’. Every youth in Jamkandorna is prepared to sacrifice their lives for Kashmir... You tell me, shouldn’t Article 370 have been abrogated?”
Shah criticised the Congress for deviating from the Ram mandir issue during its 70 years of governance, attributing it to “vote bank politics”. He said, “For over 500 years, our Lord Ram remained confined to a tent in an unknown area. Modiji, after 500 years, restored the pride of Lord Ram by constructing a magnificent Ram mandir.”
Lauding the economic achievements of the BJP government, the Union minister said, “Congress had left the country in the 11th position among the world economies. It is Modiji who has elevated it to number 5. I guarantee you that if you elect Modi as PM for the third time, he will propel the country to become the world’s third-largest economy.”