Amit Shah at party meet says BJP wants Ram temple at earliest, Congress creating hurdles

BJP president Amit Shah on Friday projected the Lok Sabha polls as a clash of ideologies and likened it to the “decisive” third battle of Panipat between Marathas and the Afghan army, saying the election results will be equally significant for the country.

In his inaugural address at a party convention in Delhi, he dismissed the proposed grand alliance of opposition parties as a “sham”, saying they are a disparate group with neither a leader nor any policy and have been brought together by their greed of power. He also asserted that the BJP wants Ram temple to be constructed at the earliest in Ayodhya, drawing huge applause from thousands of party members, and accused the Congress of creating hurdles in the issue’s early resolution in the Supreme Court.

Targeting the opposition, Shah said its proposed alliance has no nationwide relevance and the BJP had defeated each of them in 2014, claiming that the party is sure to come back to power with a bigger majority. It had won 282 of 543 seats in the last Lok Sabha polls. Amid a challenge from the likely opposition unity and the BJP’s defeat in the recent state polls, Shah sought to reassure the party cadres about its prospects, describing Modi as an “invincible warrior” he has known since 1987 and under whom not a single election has been lost.

The party has the “world’s most popular, visionary, transparent and hardworking” leader in Modi with the opposition having no match to him, he asserted, asking thousands of BJP delegates to go with the pledge of bringing the government back to power. That rival parties are joining hands against the BJP is their admission of Modi’s strength, he said.

In his over an hour-long speech, Shah emphasised on a number of government’s measures- especially those related to security, curbing corruption and welfare programmes for the poor and farmers- and attacked the Congress for the dare to target Modi on the issue of graft when its president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are on bail in a “case of corruption”. With Modi and other top leaders on dais, he gave the party war cry to win the next polls, claiming that people like the BJP want a “majboot sarkar” (strong government) and the opposition wants a “majboor sarkar” (helpless government). “Nobody other than Modi can give a strong government,” Shah said.

“Two ideologies are facing off during the polls. We stand for cultural nationalism and antyodaya (poor’s welfare). On the other hand, there is neither a leader not policy, only a disparate group of selfish parties brought together by their greed of power,” he said. He said rivals find it “impossible” to defeat Modi, who has emerged as the “nucleus” of politics like the Congress was for many decades, claiming that people stand behind the prime minister like a rock.

Underlining the poll’s significance, he said battles are of different kinds; consequences of some are felt for a decade or so while of some others are felt for centuries. “I believe the 2019 battle is going to be like this. That is why it is important to win. For 70 years the poor and deprived got nothing and the BJP government has made a successful attempt to provide for them. This battle is for them,” he said, drawing a parallel with the third battle of Panipat. Under king Shivaji, Marathas had started freeing different parts of India and won over 131 battles under various kings before losing the third battle of Panipat in 1761. “It was not merely a loss in one battle… India was sunk in slavery for 200 years and the English ruled us for two countries. It was a decisive battle,” he said. He also claimed that the party is on its way to win more than 50 per cent votes in Uttar Pradesh, asserting the saffron alliance’s tally will increase to 74 seats from 73 it had won in 2014 out of the state’s 80.

Mocking the “bua-bhatija” alliance of Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Mayawati’s BSP, he said they could not stand each other but have now joined hands due to the BJP’s fear. Dismissing Rahul Gandhi’s allegation of corruption against the Modi government on the Rafale issue as baseless, he said the prime minister’s image is unblemished and referred to the Supreme Court’s order that rejected demands for a probe. When “chowkidar” (watchman) came to power all thieves ran away, he said, referring to fugitives like Vijay Mallya, claiming they will be held to account. Referring to the passage of a bill in Parliament to give 10 percent quota to the general category poor, Shah said the government has “fulfilled” dreams of crores of youths, describing it as one of the most important legislations passed by Parliament. For 30-40 years, upper castes’ youths felt neglected and did not get a level playing field, he said.

Shah said India had developed and its global prestige has enhanced under Modi and also made a reference to surgical strike. With this, India joined the ranks of the US and Israel, he added. Under the UPA, “aaliya, maliya and jamalia” would infiltrate into India and target security forces but the country gave a befitting reply under Modi and secured its borders, he said. Attacking “Rahul baba and company”, he said they spoke for illegal infiltrators on the issue of National Register of Citizens in Assam as if they considered them as their “mausere bhai” (cousins). He said infiltrators were hollowing out the country like termites and the BJP would identify each of them. He also touched on issues of triple talaq and conviction of those accused in anti-Sikh riots cases.

Shah also emphasised that the BJP wants the Ram temple in Ayodhya to be constructed at the earliest, and accused the Congress of putting “hurdles” in the resolution of the issue. Shah’s reiteration of the party’s stand on the issue in his inaugural address drew the most enthusiastic response from thousands of its members at Ramlila Maidan, underscoring its resonance with the saffron party’s rank and file. “The Bharatiya Janata Party wants the Ram temple constructed at the earliest at the same site. Let there be no doubt,” Shah said. He asserted that the party is making all efforts to ensure that the matter is resolved in the Supreme Court as soon as possible. The court is adjudicating on the Ram temple title case and has fixed 29 January as the next date of hearing.

Accusing the Congress of creating hurdles in early resolution of the matter in the court, Shah asked the opposition party to make its stand clear on the matter. In presence of top party leaders at the convention including Modi, Shah said the BJP wants the issue to be resolved constitutionally. Hindutva organisations, including the RSS, have repeatedly expressed their frustration at the “delay” in the case and have demanded that the Modi government bring a law to pave the way for the temple’s construction at the site in Ayodhya, considered to be the birthplace of Lord Ram.

With inputs from PTI