KOCHI/THRISSUR : Coming down heavily on Congress president Rahul Gandhi for seeking evidence on India’s airstrike at Balakot, BJP national president Amit Shah on Tuesday said the country will give a fitting reply to the terrorists and their supporters if they dare to attack India again.
“When the entire nation was backing Balakot airstrike, Rahul Gandhi was seeking evidence of military action from the government. When the UPA government ruled the nation for 10 years, terrorists were entering India and carrying out attacks. But no action was taken. When 40 jawans were martyred at Pulwama, we retaliated with airstrikes destroying the terrorist camps.
If they fire a bullet, we will fire a missile. BJP has zero tolerance for terrorists. Rahul Gandhi and his friend Sam Pitroda want talks with the terrorists. There will not be any talks but only action if they attack,” he said at the election rally in Athani near Aluva.
He said Kashmir will remain part of India until life exists in each and every BJP worker. Taking a jibe at the Congress president, he said when Rahul Gandhi demands poverty eradication, he should remember that his family ruled India and could not do anything.He took on the CPM government on Sabarimala issue and said BJP will be with Ayyappa devotees like a strong wall.
“I warn the Communist government against its action in Sabarimala and hurting sentiments of the
devotees. More than 2000 devotees are still in jail and 32,000 were arrested by the government.
In our Sankalp Patra we have promised constitutional protection to Sabarimala devotees. BJP will stand with Sabarimala devotees,” he said.
Amit Shah lashes out at LDF Govt for its lethargy
He also lashed at the LDF government claiming that due to the lethargy of the state government several projects allotted by the Central government could not be implemented in time. “The state government could not complete the land acquisition for major projects like AIIMS, IIT and Kanjikode coach manufacturing facility. For several projects, the state government has not issued a licence. The CPM and the Congress are blocking the development of Kerala,” he said.He also slammed the human rights activists and said that no voice was raised against increasing mob lynching incidents in Kerala.
“The data reveals that in a year 225 mob lynching incident took place in Kerala. Where are those champions of human rights? Why are they maintaining silence,” he added. Earlier at Thrissur, slamming Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the political violence in the state, BJP national president Amit Shah on Tuesday said most political killings took place in Pinarayi’s own district.
“BJP and RSS lost 120 of their workers in Kerala to Communist violence. After Pinarayi became Chief Minister, over 40 RSS activists were killed. Of the political murders, most happened in his own district. Why is this happening? Who is protecting them?” Shah said at the public rally here as part of the election campaign for NDA’s Thrissur candidate Suresh Gopi.
He also used the report, filed by the High Court-appointed amicus curiae that investigated the reasons and impact of last year’s devastating mid-August floods, to slam the Pinarayi government.
“When the Narendra Modi-led Union government took up an array of developmental activities, the Kerala government performed poorly. This is evident in the amicus curiae report, which clearly points out that mismanagement of dams caused the floods that left hundreds dead. The report also mentions the state government did not use the Centre’s assistance efficiently during the disaster,” Shah said.
NDA’s efforts for Kerala
Shah also listed, along with their outlay, the various developmental activities the NDA government took up for Kerala. They included the 64,000 crore for National Highway development, Rs 25,000 crore for Vizhinjam, Rs 16,600 crore via Sagar Mala project and others.
Sabarimala invoked
On the Election Commission notice issued to Gopi for using the word ‘Ayyan’ in his campaign speech, Shah said BJP will stand shoulder to shoulder with the devotees in their fight to protect the traditions of Sabarimala. “Several court verdicts remain unimplemented in this country. Then why is the Pinarayi government keen on implementing only the Sabarimala verdict? Will he do the same for other Supreme Court judgments, too?” he wondered.
Suresh Gopi speaks
In a jibe at the Agriculture Minister and Thrissur MLA V S Sunilkumar, Gopi presented statistics to compare the agriculture scenario of Kerala with the BJP-ruled states. “In states where BJP-backed governments rule, the rate of agricultural land is being increased by utilising barren lands for farming. However, in Kerala, the trend that they claim is happening is far lesser,” he said. Gopi said the Communist government which keeps on killing its political opponents will get its reply in the elections. “If a fair CBI inquiry is done on the political murders in the state, some parties will not have candidates left to field in the elections,” he said.
IUML files complaint against Shah
Kochi: The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), on Tuesday, filed a complaint to the Election Commission against BJP president Amit Shah for his speech in which he referred to Wayanad and other areas of Kerala as Pakistani territory. The IUML requested the EC to initiate appropriate punitive measures including disabling all his social media accounts for making such baseless, malicious, irresponsible communal statements.