likening the Opposition parties to snakes, mongooses, cats and dogs who had come together ahead of the 2019 lok Sabha polls in the fear of being swept by a “flood” called Narendra Modi, BJP’s president Amit Shah on Friday expressed confidence that the Modi-led NDA would re-capture power at the Centre next year on the basis of its performance and his party’s organisational strength stretching up to the “booth level”.
Addressing a mammoth rally of his party workers organised at the MMRDA grounds in north-central Mumbai on the occasion of the BJP’s 38th foundation day, Shah took a dig at the Opposition parties which were rallying together to take on the Modi-led dispensation ahead of the 2019 lok Sabha polls.
“The countdown for the 2019 polls has begun. The Opposition parties are appealing to one another to come together to fight the elections. I had heard once, when there is a massive flood, trees and shrubs are washed away, but tall banyan trees survives. In the fear of being swept away in swollen waters, snakes, mongooses, cats, dogs, cheetahs and lions climb onto the banyan tree to survive the flood,” Shah said.
“In the fear of being swept by the flood named Modi, snakes, mongooses, cats and dogs have come together to fight the elections,” the BJP president said.
However, within a couple of hours after his party workers’ rally, Shah clarified his likening the Opposition parties to snakes, mongooses, cats and dogs and said, “If I had given the example of snakes and mongooses, it was because they are rivals of one another. In the normal course, these animals do not come together. Setting aside their ideological differences, all these Opposition parties are coming together to fight the Modi wave.”
“Still the Opposition parties are feeling bad about describing them as various animals, let me elaborate
See what is happening: the Samajwadi Party and its rival Bahujan Samaj Party are coming together, Congress and TMC are getting closer and Congress and TDP are trying to get closer,” he said
“There is nothing feeling about I what I said. Though their ideologies are vastly different, the rivals are coming together. They are joining hands because of their fear for Modi,” the BJP president said.
Shah made the remarks in the context of a dinner hosted by former Congress president and ex-UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her New Delhi residence for various Opposition leaders last month and the fact that several Opposition leaders have been meeting each other individually and collectively during the recent weeks.
Earlier, expressing confidence about the BJP-led NDA’s return to power in the 2019 lok Sabha polls, Shah said, “Today, Modi is the most popular leader in the world. We will win the 2019 elections under his leadership. We will not win the 2019 elections on the basis of slogans and empty promises, but we will win the elections on the basis of the Modi Government’s performance and the BJP’s organisational strength stretching up to booth level. I appeal to party workers to take Modi’s work to each and every household in the country and prepare for the elections”.
Castigating Congress president Rahul Gandhi for repeatedly asking for the performance card of the Modi Government, Shah said, “Rahul baba, you are asking what Modiji has done in the last four years...The country wants to ask you as to what your party did when it was in power for four generations”.
Hitting out at NCP president Sharad Pawar for his apprehension that the Modi Government might do away with reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes Shah said, “Pawar saheb, please bear in mind that the BJP will never do away with reservations. It is not just that. Even if you try to annul reservations, we will not let you do it”.
Queried as to why he was saying the NDA would capture power in the 2019 polls - unlike during the 2014 polls when the BJP had spoken about its ambition of winning 272 on its own, Shah said, “Even the 272-member Government is also that of the NDA. Even after winning 272, we took all our allies along with us and formed the Government. It is not case just with the Centre. In Uttar Pradesh where we have 300-odd seats of our own, we have accommodated our allies. Even in Tripura where we have a majority of our own, we have accommodated our allies. Even in Assam where we have a majority own, we have NDA allies in the Government”.
When his attention was drawn to Modi’s oft-repeated assertion that his party is working towards ushering in “Congress mukt Bharat”, Shah clarified, “When we said Congress mukt Bharat, we did not mean that we wanted to eliminate the party from the country. What we meant was to eliminate the Congress culture from the country”.
Replying to another question, Shah said, “ The BJP and our allies in the NDA will return to power with a thumping majority”.
Asked if it is not true that there are considerable apprehensions within the ruling BJP about its prospects in the 2019 polls, Shah said, “There is absolutely no fear among us about our prospects in the 2019 polls. We have lost two bypolls, but we have captured power in 11 States.... There is nothing for the Congress about our loss in the lok Sabha bypolls in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress lost its deposits in both the polls. I do not understand as to why the Congress is so happy.”
On whether there would be alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Shah said, “We wish that the Shiv Sena is part of the NDA in the 2019 polls”.
Speaking at the party workers’ rally, senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said, “ If there is a party which has cadres willing to sacrifice themselves for the country’s progress, then it is BJP. You know, the term ‘secular’ is often used in India’s politics. The day the poor gets roti, kapda, makaan (food, clothing and shelter), that is when we will know we have achieved something.”
On Modi’s vision for ‘new India’, Gadkari said, “For New India, we need research, and technology. We want to use technology to bring good governance and development.”
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP-led Maharashtra Government had provided a “corruption-free” Government. “During the last three and a half years, no one has made any allegation of corruption against my Government. Given that the Opposition has not been able to find any corruption in my Government, they are making frivolous allegations like that we have brought rat poison for Rs 4. 5 lakh. Having been involved in corruption worth Rs 4.5 lakh crore, you are making this kind of a frivolous allegation against us. The Opposition said my office has incurred quite bit of expenditure on serving tea to people coming to me. I would like tell Pawar Saheb, we serve to people what we drink. We cannot serve to people in your regime”.
Earlier on Thursday night, Shah chaired a meeting of the party’s Maharashtra unit core committee and discussed issues such as the expansion of organisational base at the booth level and setting up of hi-tech party offices in every district.