RJD, Congress, JD(U) and AAP slam Amit Shah for "firecrackers in Pakistan" remark

PATNA: Leaders of RJD, Congress, JD(U) and AAP on Friday slammed BJP chief Amit Shah’s “firecrackers in Pakistan” remark saying it was “highly inflammatory” and “aimed to polarise voters on communal line.”
While RJD boss Lalu Prasad said Shah has gone “mad” and has insulted 11 crore Biharis, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot described BJP chief’s remarks as an “apparent attempt to polarize voters on communal line.”
Shah, while addressing an election rally at Raxaul in Bihar on Thursday said, “If the Bharatiya Janata Party is defeated in the Bihar assembly polls and does not form a government, firecrackers will be burst in Pakistan.”
Enraged over Shah’s remarks, a delegation of JD(U) and Congress also met the chief election commissioner (CEC) in New Delhi and demanded a ban on BJP chief’s entry in Bihar till poll process is over.
“A case should be registered against him (Shah) and he should be debarred from entering Bihar till the poll process is over. He is a habitual conspirator. He was earlier also debarred from entering Gujarat by the court,” JD(U) general secretary KC Tyagi said, adding, “Shah's remarks are highly inflammatory.”
Tyagi was part of a delegation that included Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala which met CEC Nasim Zaidi in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum, accusing the BJP of vitiating the electoral process by “promoting communal tension.”
Talking to media here, Lalu Prasad said, “Amit Shah has insulted all Biharis, including Hindus, Muslims, Dalits, OBCS by terming all of us as Pakistani. It has again exposed his mindset for us.”
“Bilkul pagal ho gaya hai. Poore Bihar ko apmanit kar raha hai. (He has gone mad. He is insulting entire Bihar),” said Lalu in his typical inimitable style.
RJD chief also said it is not a cricket match between India and Pakistan that firecrackers would be burst if India is defeated. “BJP is not India and Bihar is not Pakistan,” he said.
Lalu also said, “It is a below-the-belt attack against all Biharis by Amit Shah. People will teach him and his party a hard lesson in the polls. Such statement of Shah has certain motive to play communal card but he and BJP will not succeed in their design in Bihar.”
Pilot said, “Shah gave such speech in utter desperation in the wake of imminent defeat of BJP in Bihar. It was not expected from a leader holding the post of national president of ruling party.”
AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, “Let BJP test a humiliating defeat in Bihar, firecrackers will be burst in entire India.”
Reacting over Shah’s remarks, JD (U) spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Pavan Kumar Varma quipped, “What type of language is this? Has Narendra Modi and Shah now become a disciple of union minister Giriraj Singh?”
Whereas former Gujarat CM Shankersinh Baghela, who was in Patna, said, “Issuing of such inflammatory statement by BJP is not a new thing. The saffron party has been issuing similar statement in Gujarat at the time of every election since 2002.”