Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in an interview with the new agency ANI on Wednesday, touched upon a range of issues from the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to bail to Delhi Chief Minister Narendra Modi to Sandeshkhali row.
- Bail to Kejriwal: Shah said many believe that special treatment has been given to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Supreme Court in granting him interim bail and it was not a routine judgement.
- Uniform Civil Code: He asserted this (UCC) is certainly an important issue in our ‘Sankalp Patra’ (manifesto). “We will bring UCC…We also want to bring ‘One Nation, One Election’. This too should be discussed.”
- Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency: On BJP not contesting from Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, he said, “We accept that our organisation is not strong there as of now. We are expanding it. When the organisation becomes fit, we will contest elections and I am very confident that we will win…”
- Shah will be PM remark by Kejriwal: The Union Minister said there is no need to take him (Kejriwal) seriously. “Prime Minister Modi will remain till 2029, and Arvind Kejriwal I have bad news for you…Even after 2029 PM Modi will lead us,” he added.
- Abrogation of Article 370: On the Opposition raking up Balakot strike and Pulwama attack once again recently in poll campaigns, Shah said, “Narendra Modi ne ghar mein ghus kar maara hai. BJP government has transformed the situation in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370…We have taken strict measures, as a result – those who didn’t follow India’s constitution have now voted in the elections two days back.”
- Naxal issue: On Naxalism, Shah said, “Jharkhand, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are completely naxalism-free now…The issue now persists in just 3-4 districts of Chhattisgarh. I think that in the next 2-3 years, the country will be completely free of naxal issue.”
- BJP’s presence in South: On the Opposition’s “Dakshin mein BJP saaf aur Uttar mein half” remark, he said, “Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu – combining the seats in these 5 states, BJP will emerge as the single largest party.”
- Sandeshkhali row: On the Sandeshkhali incident, he said, “Mamata Banerjee has developed a Modus Operandi. First commit atrocities, once people talk about this then hide it and conduct atrocities again. Sandeshkhali is a classic example of this. Under a woman Chief Minister’s nose, according to religion, atrocities are committed against women…She is quiet? High Court has to intervene, still no investigation (by West Bengal Police) and then the case has to go to CBI…she should be ashamed.”
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Congress’ guarantees: While speaking on electoral guarantees of Congress, Shah said, “I called it ‘Chinese guarantee’ on the basis of their durability…Those guarantees hold no meaning. They say that during elections and then forget about it.”
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Reservation row: He said, “It has been very clearly explained that if our aim was to remove reservations, we would have the majority for 10 years, but we did not do that. As far as reservation for Muslims is concerned, I am still of the opinion that there should be no reservation in this country on the basis of religion.”
Also read: Many believe special treatment was given to Arvind Kejriwal: Amit Shah on interim bail