In UP rallies, Shah targets Oppn over kar sevak firing, PM pick

Lucknow/Gorakhpur/Pratapgarh: Union home minister Amit Shah stepped up attack on the opposition in his rallies in Uttar Pradesh where he pitched the electoral battle as one between those who built Ram temple vs those who ordered firing on ‘karsevaks’ (in Ayodhya in the 90s). He also dared the opposition to name their prime ministerial pick if they were so confident of coming to power. Describing the opposition alliance as ‘ghamandiya (haughty)’, he said, “I would like to know from Rahul Gandhi that in case of a majority (for the opposition alliance), who will be their PM? Can Sharad Pawar, Lalu Yadav, or Uddhav Thackeray become the PM? Can Rahul Gandhi become the PM?” he asked clearly to play up the contrast between the BJP and the opposition over leadership issues.

“This is an election between those who fired bullets on Ram devotees as well as those who ensured Ram temple in Ayodhya,” he said in election meetings in Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkarnagar and Domariaganj. He also lauded chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s leadership and his government’s crackdown on mafia as proof of efficient law and order in UP.

Addressing a rally in Tardahan village of Patti area of Pratapgarh to seek support for BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate Sangam Lal Gupta, Shah also said that after the counting of votes on June 4, both the ‘shehzade’ of Samajwadi Party and Congress would head abroad while Narendra Modi would take oath as the Prime Minister of the country for the third time.

‘Shehzade’ is a coinage used by Shah to refer to the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

“This election is all about choosing the country’s Prime Minister. One side has Narendra Modi while the other has ‘Rahul Baba’,” Shah said.

“Rahul Baba goes to Italy for holidays as soon as summer starts, whereas Narendra Modi has not taken a single day’s leave in his 23 years of political career. On one side, there is Rahul Baba and Akhilesh in the elections, who were born with silver spoons in their mouths, and on the other side, there is the son of a poor family,” he claimed.

Shah claimed the NDA alliance was winning 310 seats while the opposition alliance was facing ‘wipe out’. He also referred to the Bengal high court’s decision on OBCs and alleged that the opposition alliance wanted to rob the SC/STs and OBCs of quota benefits.

“A decision from the Bengal high court came just yesterday. The Bengal government had included 180 Muslim castes in the OBC list and gave the reservation rights of our backward classes to the Muslims. Our Constitution does not provide reservations based on religion. Therefore, yesterday, the high court rejected all the OBC reservations given to Muslim castes by the Bengal government between 2010 and 2024,” he said.

The Calcutta high court on Wednesday cancelled all OBC certificates issued in West Bengal after 2010. The court has directed the West Bengal Backward Classes Commission to prepare a new list of OBCs in accordance with the 1993 Act. Those on the OBC list before 2010 will remain. However, all OBC nominations after 2010 were cancelled.

“Congress leaders say they have to respect Pakistan as they have the atom bomb. Rahul Baba, we BJP people are not going to be scared by the atom bomb. PoK belongs to India, and we will take it back,” he said.

“The country’s problems are not solved by atom bombs. The problems of the country are solved by the strong intentions of the leader like an atom bomb, which Modi ji has,” the home minister said.

“Voting for five phases has been completed. While BJP under Modi ji is already winning 310 seats in these five phases, the opposition alliance is facing a wipe out. The Congress is unlikely to cross even 40 and Akhilesh ji is not going to get even four seats,” Shah said.