BJP’s national president Amit Shah raised issue of All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s Italian lineage saying that the Congress V-P couldn’t see development in Gujarat because he has donned ‘Italian spectacles’.
Shah’s mentor and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also utilise ‘Italian Chasma’ jibe for Congress ahead of previous State Assembly polls as Gujarat Chief Minister in context to AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s Italian origin. “Put-off Italian Spectacles first and sport Gujarati spectacles and Rahul Baba you will be able to see development,’’ he taunted.
Addressing a public meeting on Monday at Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace Porbandar after flagging off second phase of ‘Gujarat Gaurav Yatra’ a day after launching first phase of the Yatra from Sardar Patel’s birthplace Karamsad in Central Gujarat the BJP president launched attack on the Opposition Congress party for passing derogatory remarks on the saffron party’s Gaurav (pride) Yatra.
‘’They (Congress leaders) are questioning us on why we are taking pride on Gujarat. The answer is simple. We take pride for Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Narendra Modi. We take pride for developed, peaceful and curfew free Gujarat. BJP takes pride for making Gujarat drought free by bringing Narmada water to the parched areas,’’ said the BJP chief.
Reminding dismal performances of Opposition Congress parties in State Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh that was conducted after Modi became Prime Minister in May 2014, Shah said that Congress was day dreaming to win 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls as elections wouldn’t be won by spending vacations in America but one need to work hard on ground zero.
Congress left behind deteriorated law & order situation in Porbandar in 1995, but BJP re-established law & order here by sending anti-social elements behind the bars, he claimed, adding, ‘’The way hooligans nurtured by Congress party disappeared in Porbandar and other parts of the state, gradually the oldest political party too diminished.’’
‘’Right from partition of India in 1947, Kashmir was suffering from Pakistan sponsored terrorism. When Uri attack occurred, people feared about what would happen next. However, the Indian Army took revenge of the attack but conducting successful surgical strike. Instead of appreciating valour of our soldiers, a Congress leader termed army general as hooligan. I would like to ask Rahul Gandhi that what action he took against him for uttering foul language for soldiers,’’ he said.
Terming the Congress party as anti-Gujarat, Shah said that allocation from central government funds to Gujarat was Rs 63343 crore till May 2014, but after BJP led NDA government came into power the allocation has gone up in tune with 1,58,380 crores. Not only financial allocations, the Modi government at Centre also approved international airport and AIMS to Rajkot, laid foundation stone for Bullet train project, a bridge between Okha and Bet Dwarka which is important from the national security point of view too, six cities of the state under Smart City initiative and above all completion of Sardar Sarovar Dam project which is the lifeline for the people of Gujarat, he added.
Gujarat’s development journey can be split in three timelines – from freedom up to formation of the state, Post formation of state up to 1995 when mostly Congress ruled the state and from 1995 to 2017 when mostly BJP served the state, said the BJP president adding, “Till 1995 people in Gujarat were suffering from power cut up to 12 to 14 hours, but now people are enjoying 24x7 uninterrupted electricity. I used to hear about Sardar Sarovar dam in my childhood. The constructed in the fond memories of Sardar Patel completed only after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister. We take pride for these achievements.”
‘’Rahul Gandhi is demanding accounts on work done by Modi government at the Centre. Here is the account. Congress led Sonia-Man Mohan government did corruption in tune with Rs. 8 lakh crore but there has been not a single charge of corruption on Modi government since it was formed in 2014 May even from oppositions,” he claimed.
Sharing details on work done by BJP governments in Gujarat in the past couple of decades Shah said that in 1995 under Congress rule electricity production in Gujarat was nearly 36700 MW which has crossed 1 lakh MW. Till 1995 there were 73.78 lakh vehicles in the state but in the past 20 years the figure has cross 2 crore, he said.
‘’The production of cotton was around 24 lakh bales till 1995 which has gone up to 1.24 crore in 2017. literacy rate was increased from 58 per cent to 78 per cent. Grain production has increased from 47 lakh metric tons to 63 lakh metric tons and groundnuts from 10 lakh Mt to 20 lakh Mt. fruit production augmented from 21 lakh Mt to 85 lakh mt and Per capita income which was Rs 13665 in 1995 but now increase to Rs. 1, 14,504 in 2017,’’ said Shah.
Prior to the public meeting Shah attended an all religion prayer meeting – ‘Prarthana Sabha’ – at Kirti Mandir along with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani at Mahatma’s ancestral house.