Amit Shah urges aggressive voting for BJP, criticizes Kejriwal over alleged corruption

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday urged voters in Delhi to press the EVM button for the BJP's lotus symbol with such ''aggression'' that Arvind Kejriwal remembers that he has to go back to Tihar jail.

Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, who was arrested in a case related to the alleged excise scam, has been granted interim bail till June 1 by the Supreme Court to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.

Seeking votes for his party's candidate in the South Delhi constituency Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Shah cited the alleged assault of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal at the Delhi chief minister's residence and sought to know whether Kejriwal could ensure the safety of women in Delhi.

He said that every vote cast in favour of Bidhuri would make Narendra Modi prime minister for the third term and ensure a united and strong India.

Shah asserted that according to the information he has, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has already won around 270 seats and it will cross the 400 mark in the next phases of the election.

He attacked both the Congress and the AAP over the issues of corruption, Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Ram temple. ''Is PoK ours or not?'' he asked the gathering and accused the Congress and its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners of scaring the country on the issue.

''Listen Rahul Baba (Rahul Gandhi), PoK will be taken back by us,'' he asserted.

Claiming that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said what people of other states have to do with Kashmir, Shah said, ''Kharge Maharaj has crossed 80 years of age but could not understand Bharat. Everyone in the country can sacrifice their lives for Kashmir.'' The home minister said PM Modi abrogated Article 370, paving the way for the unfurling of the tricolour at the Red Chowk in Srinagar while Rahul Gandhi used to say that it would lead to a bloodbath. ''Now, the slogans of freedom, stone-pelting and strikes happen in PoK and not in Kashmir. This change has happened due to Modi.'' ''Kejriwal and Rahul have no support in India, their supporters are in Pakistan,'' Shah claimed, adding that Rahul Gandhi has talked about bringing back Article 370, scrapping the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and lifting the ban on instant triple talaq.

Training guns at Kejriwal, Shah said he has not seen any leader who has taken more ''U-turns'' than the AAP national convener.

''Kejriwal believes in the ''odd-even'' formula -- on odd days he gives speeches against corruption and on even days he forms ''Ghamandiya'' (arrogant) alliance with the corrupt. On odd days he becomes the owner of Delhi and on even days, the owner of the country. On odd days he seeks the resignation of others and on even days he goes to jail without resigning,'' Shah said.

Kejriwal had pledged to send Congress leaders to jail for corruption but now he has taken a ''U-turn'' and is ''sitting on the lap'' of the party for contesting Lok Sabha polls, he said.

Referring to the reconstructed official residence of the Delhi CM, Shah alleged that Kejriwal constructed a ''Sheesh Mahal'' for himself for Rs 125 crore. ''I want to challenge Kejriwal to show his 'Sheesh Mahal' to people. Even billionaires won't have such a bungalow.'' Alleging that there have been numerous scams under the Kejriwal government, the senior BJP leader said, ''There has been a probe into the liquor scam only so far. Investigation into seven other scams remains to be conducted.'' Describing Kejriwal as ''shameless'', Shah said, ''He is the only leader who has remained chief minister even after going to jail. After the BJP wins the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, the 'Fevicol' with which Kejriwal is sticking to the chair of the chief minister will come unstuck.'' Shah assured the people that all the unauthorised colonies in Delhi will be authorised by 2026 after Narendra Modi comes back to power.

Citing various infrastructure projects and welfare schemes of the Modi government, he asked people to seek an account of the works done by Kejriwal. ''But do not forget to do it before June 1 because then you will have to go to Tihar jail to ask for it.'' He alleged that the Kejriwal government denotes ''3G Sarkar -- ghotala (scam), ghoos (graft) and ghapla (embezzlement)''.

In five years, the verdict in favour of Ram temple came and Lord Ram's idol was consecrated at the grand temple under the Modi government, Shah said. ''Kejriwal used to say there should be a hospital where earlier Babri Masjid existed. Rahul (Gandhi), Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) and Kejriwal did not attend the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony in Ayodhya despite invitation because of the fear of their vote bank,'' he charged.

Shah alleged that the Rohingya infiltrators are the vote bank of the INDIA bloc.

He asked the people to just think about who will be the prime minister face of the INDIA bloc if it wins the polls, saying leaders of the alliance claimed it could be turn-wise.

He said that the post of the prime minister of the country is not a ''parchun ki dukan'' (grocery store) and only Modi was capable of ensuring the greatness of India.

Responding to Shah's attack, the AAP said, ''It is ironic that the most corrupt party in Indian history (BJP) is calling others corrupt.'' If any of the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party were corrupt, they would have joined the BJP and come out clean from its ''washing machine''. All investigations against AAP leaders would've been dropped like it happened in the case of Ajit Pawar, Prafful Patel, Chagan Bhujbal and countless others, the AAP said.