NFN Desk: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday launched a blistering attack on the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi during the BJP’s ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ Maha Padayatra in Hyderabad, accusing the Opposition of misleading people over electoral reforms and attempting to protect illegal infiltrators for political gains.
Addressing a public meeting at Moazzam Jahi Market after the march from Basheerbagh, Shah dismissed the Congress-led INDIA bloc’s ‘Vote Bachao’ rally in Delhi as a ‘Save Infiltrators’ campaign. Defending the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, he rejected Rahul Gandhi’s claim that 13 crore votes were being deleted. He said the figures included around 6.25 crore voters who had shifted residences, three crore deceased persons, one crore duplicate entries and another three crore voters who, he claimed, did not exist and were infiltrators. Shah asserted that only Indian citizens should have the right to vote.
Questioning the Congress’s objections to EVMs, he asked how the party had formed governments in Telangana and other states if the voting machines were unreliable. He also challenged Rahul Gandhi to debate SIR, EVMs and electoral reforms in Parliament, declaring that the government was ready to convene a special session. Taking a personal swipe, Shah said Rahul could become Prime Minister only in a mock Parliament, while accusing him of holding the Constitution but failing to respect it and repeatedly disrupting parliamentary proceedings.
Turning to Telangana, Shah accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of running the state as an ‘ATM’ for the Congress leadership in Delhi and alleged that money was being collected through ‘RR Tax’. He also charged the government with failing to fulfil the six guarantees promised to voters.
Highlighting the Modi government’s achievements, Shah cited the abrogation of Article 370, Ram Temple construction, abolition of triple talaq, free foodgrains for 81 crore people, health coverage for 50 crore and PM-KISAN assistance to farmers.
Recalling Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s role in Hyderabad’s integration, Shah urged BJP workers to expose what he termed Congress’s failures and corruption, expressing confidence in the party’s prospects in Telangana.
