Amit Shah says Modi will file papers from Varanasi on April 24
Announcing that BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will file his nominations from the Varanasi lok Sabha seat on April 24, party’s general secretary and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Amit Shah claimed that the Congress even failed to find a candidate having clean image to take on the Gujarat Chief Minister in the holy city.
“Why was the Congress silent on a media report that party’s candidate Ajay Rai, contesting against Modi from Varanasi, had criminal record and that he had procured an AK-47 rifle from a Bihar-based mafia donIJ” Shah said while alleging that the Congress could not even field a candidate having clean image in Varanasi.
He said Modi will file his nomination in the holy city on Thursday. April 24 is the last date for filing of nominations for the sixth and last phase of elections in UP, where polling is scheduled for May 12.
Interestingly, Union Minister for Steel Beni Prasad Verma was quick to react to Shah’s allegations and said that Rai was facing some allegations but Shah had no rights to pose such questions as he (Shah) was chargesheeted in cases of murder and even BJP’s PM candidate is yet to get a clean chit from the upper court in massacre of innocents in Godhra.
“Shah, who is giving us lesson of not fielding a candidate of clean image, must first see the past of his own and his mentor Narendra Modi, who were even chargesheeted in killings of innocent persons,” Beni said, adding Shah to first ask Modi to resign from Gujarat Chief Minister’s post and set a high moral example before everyone and than levelled charges on others.
Meanwhile reacting to ban on him by Election Commission (EC) over his objectionable remarks, Amit Shah admitted that it was a ‘no ball’ that caused his brief ban. He also backtracked from his version that the SP Government in UP would be dislodged. “I honour all orders of the EC and admit that it was just a ‘no ball’. Though my speeches never intend to violate the election Model Code of Conduct but I agree to the EC’s interpretation,” he said, while talking to mediapersons for the first time after the lifting of the ban by the EC here on Saturday afternoon.
It was a different Shah on Thursday and was very mild and cautious while replying to all the issues and avoided any personal attack on any leaders. Clarifying about his statement as well as of other BJP leaders that the UP Government will be dislodge once BJP comes to power at the Centre, Shah maintained that the SP Government will fall automatically after the lok Sabha polls. He also defended Uma Bharti that she had not said about dismissal of the UP Government.
Blaming Congress president Sonia Gandhi solely for the misrule of the UPA Governments, the BJP leader said everyone has claimed that it was Sonia who ruled the country and not Manmohan Singh. He also questioned the Congress vice-president that why he was saying in election rallies that several things have to be done when his Government had already ruled ten years.
He also denied the report that the BJP had sent any envoy to Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani while defended the land given to industrialists Adani at subsidised rate. “Supreme Court had appreciated the Gujarat Government over the land given to industrialists for development,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the BJP leader was elated over the party’s wave in the country and hoped that the party will win highest seats in UP. “In the first two phases in UP, the BJP would win 18 seats out of the total 21 in stake,” he claimed.
Shah said BJP wave has now turned into a tsunami in the country and there is no doubt over NDA coming to power and Modi becoming the next PM.
He also narrated in detail how the party is taking the advantage of modern technology to campaign in the rural areas and connecting with the youth of the country.