Cong didn't revoke Article 370 for appeasement's sake: Amit Shah

KARNAL: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday attacked the Congress, saying the party did not revoke Article 370, which allowed special status to Jammu and Kashmir, for the sake of appeasement politics.

Addressing an election rally here, Shah reiterated that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to India and "we will take it back".

The senior BJP leader also attacked the Congress on the Ram temple issue, saying its top leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi did not take part in the temple's consecration ceremony to please the party's minority vote bank.

Targeting the Congress on Kashmir, he said "For appeasement politics, they did not revoke Article 370."

The Congress did not revoke the article despite a rise in terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

"You all made Narendra Modi ji the Prime Minister for the second time, and on August 5, 2019, he scrapped Article 370. And now our tricolour proudly flutters in Kashmir," he said.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who is contesting the Karnal assembly bypoll and former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is in fray for the Karnal Lok Sabha seat, were also present in the rally.

Voting for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana and the by-election will take place on May 25.

Addressing the gathering in Karnal, Shah told the crowd, "Tell me, is Kashmir ours or not? Say it loudly, your voice should reach Kharge."

"Kharge sahab, you are 80-year-old but you do not understand the country. Haryana's youth can give their life for Kashmir," Shah said hitting out at the AICC president.

Shah was alluding to the AICC president's recent remark on why the prime minister spoke about the abrogation of Article 370 during a rally in Rajasthan and not the issues plaguing the state.

The home minister also slammed Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's atom bomb remark that has sparked a political row.

"I want to tell Rahul (Gandhi) baba from this land of Karnal, listen with open ears, this is the BJP government, PoK belongs to India, will remain ours and we will take it back," he said.

In a purported video clip that has gone viral on social media, Aiyar is heard saying India should give respect to Pakistan as it is a sovereign nation and engage with it as it also possesses the atom bomb. He indicated in the video that if a "mad person" comes to power there and uses the atomic bomb, it will have its effect in India too.

Shah also asked the Congress and particularly, its party leader B S Hooda why they let the Ram Temple issue linger for 70 years.

He highlighted that all the major developments regarding the temple took place in Modi's second term -- the 'bhoomi pujan' of the temple land, the victory of the Hindu side in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, and the idol consecration on January 22.

The BJP leader also pointed fingers at the Congress leadership, particularly Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for not taking part in the "Ram Utsav (consecration) which was happening after 500 years as they feared about their minority vote bank".

"They just spoke about the poor, but did nothing for the poor," the Union minister said slamming the Congress.

He praised Modi on the occasion for making India prosperous and bringing the country's economy from the 11th to fifth spot.

In Modi's third term, the nation's economy will reach the third spot, he added.

Asserting that the BJP will retain power in the Lok Sabha polls and Modi will become the prime minister for the third time, the BJP leader asked who was the prime ministerial candidate of the INDIA bloc.

"...Is there any name? Can Sharad Pawar become (the PM), can Mamata Banerjee become, can Stalin become, can Arvind Kejriwal become, can Uddhav Thackeray become? Can Rahul Baba become,? Why did you laugh, he is a big leader of the Congress. Can they become (the PM)?. These people neither have any leader nor policy," he told the gathering.

The home minister claimed the INDI Alliance has said they will have five different prime ministers on a rotational basis.

But Rahul Gandhi does not understand this is not a grocery shop, this is a country of 130 crore people. India nation needs a strong prime minister who can give a befitting reply to Pakistan and take back PoK, one who can keep the country safe during a pandemic like the Covid, who can bring the Uniform Civil Code and end naxalism, he added.

Everybody knows that only Modi can keep the country safe and make it self-reliant, prosperous, and technologically advanced, said the union minister.

Comparing the the Modi government's initiatives for the farming sector with that the previous Congress regime, Shah said earlier, the agriculture budget used to be around Rs 22,000 crore, which the BJP government has raised to Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

The present government broke all records of paddy purchase. Paddy is now procured from 1.22 crore farmers, against the previous procurement from 76 lakh farmers, he said.

The minister also mentioned several developmental projects undertaken in Haryana during the previous Khattar regime.