Shah accuses oppn of prioritising family over country

JODHPUR: Union home minister Amit Shah launched a scathing critique against "dynastic politics" during the second day of his Lok Sabha election campaign in Rajasthan on Monday, asserting that BJP is the only party prioritising the interests of the nation's youth, unlike INDIA bloc constituents entrenched in familial ambitions.

"Our fight is against dynastic politics. This 'ghamandiya' coalition (INDIA bloc) has no concern for the country except their families. Sonia Gandhi wants his son Rahul to be PM. (Ashok) Gehlot wants his son to be CM. Mamata (Banerjee) wants his nephew to be CM. Lalu Yadav wants his son to be CM. Stalin wants his son to be CM. Uddhav Thackeray wants his son to be CM," Shah said. He was addressing an audience comprising party workers from Jodhpur, Pali, Jalore-Sirohi, and Jaisalmer-Barmer Lok Sabha constituencies at Polo Ground in Jodhpur.

Shah began his day with a meeting of the party's core committee of the Jodhpur division with CM Bhajan Lal Sharma and Rajasthan BJP co-in-charge Vijaya Rahatkar. Later, he held a rally to galvanise efforts towards securing all 25 LS seats in Rajasthan for a third consecutive time and surpassing the target of 400 seats nationwide.

Drawing comparisons between the 10 years of UPA govt and NDA's decade since 2014, Shah criticised the Congress-led coalition for "plunging the country into darkness" and perpetuating a culture of dynastic politics and appeasement. Responding to Congress's allegations of democracy being in peril under NDA govt, Shah rebuffed: "It was your grandmother, who sent lakhs behind bars and invoked a ban on political parties. You have no moral right to talk about democracy." He was alluding to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's accusations of BJP stifling democracy.

Highlighting central funds allocated to Rajasthan for development projects, Shah asserted that the state received Rs 161,000 crore during UPA's tenure, while Modi govt sanctioned Rs 624,000 crore. Challenging Gehlot, Shah challenged him for a debate on these details once the former CM was free from campaigning for his son Vaibhav Gehlot, the Congress candidate for Jalore LS seat.

Rajasthan votes in two phases on April 19 and 26.


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