Karad/Sangli, Nov 8: Union minister Amit Shah on Friday attacked Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying he should be ashamed of aligning with those who call Hindutva a sham, question the existence of Lord Ram and fed biryani to terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
He also accused NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar of speaking lies that investment was not coming to Maharashtra, and countered him saying that during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)’s rule, the state ranking went down in terms of development, but is now attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) under the Mahayuti government.
Addressing a rally at Karad in Satara district of western Maharashtra ahead of the November 20 assembly polls, Shah dubbed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a “factory of lies” and alleged that he was spreading misinformation about the Agnipath scheme.
Targeting Thackeray, he said he is sitting with those who call Hindutva “pakhand” (sham).
“You are sitting with those who protected the tombs of Afzal Khan and Aurangzeb. You are sitting with those who call Hindus terrorists. You are sitting with those who fed biryani to (26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict) Ajmal Kasab. And you are sitting with those who question the existence of Lord Ram. You should be ashamed,” he said.
After the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, Thackeray, whose undivided Shiv Sena was earlier part of the government led by the BJP, joined hands with rivals Congress and NCP.
Shah further said, “Sharad Pawar ji, at this age also does not refrain from speaking lies. He says that investment is not coming to Maharashtra. I want to tell you that during your government with Uddhav ji, Maharashtra’s development ranking had slipped down, but after our government led by (Devendra) Fadnavis and (Eknath) Shinde came to power, FDI is coming to Maharashtra,” he said.
Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carried out a number of infrastructure projects in Maharashtra through Fadnavis and Shinde, such as road connectivity, Samruddhi Expressway, Mumbai Coastal Road, Atal Setu, Metro trains in Mumbai and Pune, irrigation projects.
“Fadnavis ji introduced the ‘Jalyukt Shivar’ scheme, and carried out several irrigation projects. I would like to ask Pawar saheb to list out even a single work the MVA government implemented,” he said.
On the promises made by the ruling Mahayuti alliance in its manifesto, including the increase in the Ladki Bahin Yojana amount from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100, Shah said these are PM Modi’s guarantees.
“In the 2019 polls, BJP-Sena alliance had got the people’s mandate but BJP was cheated. But this time, there will not be any such mistake as Mahayuti will form the government with a huge majority,” the former BJP chief said.
Calling Satara a land of valiant persons, he said thousands of youth from the region are serving in the army.
“Indira Gandhi had promised about ‘one rank, one pension’. But despite the Congress being in power for 40 years, the promise was not fulfilled. It was Modiji who fulfilled it, he said.
Shah said, “Rahul Gandhi is a factory of spreading lies. He has been spreading lies about the Agnipath scheme. He is saying that Agnipath is making the jawans of the army unemployed. Today, I would like to tell you that Agnipath is not a scheme to make youth unemployed but it is a scheme to make the army youthful.”
He said every Agniveer will get a job after serving in the army, he added.
Shah asked Sharad Pawar and senior Congress leader and its Karad (South) constituency’s sitting MLA Prithviraj Chavan to give an account of the works carried out at the local level.
“They will not give the account, but I am the son of a ‘baniya’ (businessman) and I have got the accounts with me,” he said.
“During the tenure of Pawar and Chavan as Union ministers in the UPA, the state got only Rs 1.91 lakh crore, but during the 10 years of Modi ji, Maharashtra got Rs 10.15 lakh crore. And still Sharad Pawar ji says they have been met with injustice. But if any injustice has been made, it has been done by Sharad Pawar and company,” he alleged.
Addressing a rally at Shirala in Sangli earlier, Shah said the MVA will be wiped out in Maharashtra the same way the Congress faced a defeat in Haryana.
“If MVA comes to power in Maharashtra by mistake, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray wants to make his son the chief minister, (Sharad) Pawar saheb wants the post for his daughter and there are a dozen leaders in the Congress who have already stitched clothes to become the CM,” he said.
“The development of this region can only be made by Devendra Fadnavis, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar’s Mahayuti under the leadership of Modiji. We want to tell you that whatever promises Modi ji makes, they are fulfilled,” he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge himself says that whatever promises his party makes are imaginary, Shah claimed.
“MVA people had purchased crackers worth crores thinking that they will win Haryana, but in most of the places they gave away their crackers to BJP workers. In Haryana, the Congress was wiped out. Similarly, the Aghadi will be wiped out in Maharashtra as BJP will form a government,” he said. (PTI)
