Kashmir to remain with India whether BJP will come to power or not: Shah
Bongaon (West Bengal): Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Wednesday emphatically stated that no one will be able to separate Kashmir from India whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP were in power at the Centre, or not.
Addressing an election rally here, an area that falls under the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency, Shah said if voted back to power, the saffron party will remove Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.
“Modi is India’s Prime Minister now. He will be elected as the Prime Minister again. But even if a time comes when neither Modiji nor BJP is in power at the centre, even then no one will be able to separate Kashmir from India,” Shah said.
“Till the time a single BJP activist is alive, we will not let that happen. Kashmir is an inseparable part of India. It is jewel in the crown of our motherland. Give us 23 seats in Bengal. We promise we will abolish article 370 from Kashmir,” he told the people here.
Attacking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for inviting her former Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Omar Abdullah in the mega anti-BJP rally held in Kolkata on January 19, Shah demanded that Banerjee should clarify whether she supports Adbullah’s statements seeking a separate Prime Minister for Kashmir.
“Mamata Banerjee had invited Omar Abdullah in Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground and held his hand. Omar Abdullah has given a statement that there should be a separate Prime Minister in Kashmir. Tell me should there be two Prime Ministers in a country?” he asked.
“I want to ask Mamata didi whether she agrees to the statement of Abdullah. I am sure she will be silent because it is a question of her vote bank,” the BJP leader said.
Speaking in a region dominated by members of the Dalit Matua community, a Hindu sect who have migrated from Bangladesh, Shah reiterated that once re-elected, the Narendra Modi government will bring the citizenship Amendment Bill to ensure the citizenship rights for all the refugees in the country.
He also claimed that the ouster of Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government from Bengal will be confirmed once the results of 2019 polls are announced on May 23.
“Mamata didi, your ouster is confirmed. Once the results of the 2019 polls are announced and BJP wins 23 seats, your exit will be confirmed. The people have decided that when the election results are announced on May 23, a new sun of ‘Paribartan’ (change) will rise in Bengal,” he added.
Referring to infiltrators as “termites”, who are eating into the country’s resources, Shah asserted that his party will throw them out after coming to power at the Centre for a second term.
“It is our commitment to implement National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country to weed out the infiltrators. First, we will bring the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to ensure that eligible refugees get citizenship, and then we will introduce NRC to throw out the infiltrators.
“They are termites, they are eating into the country’s resources,” he asserted.
The Bongaon Lok Sabha seat has a sizeable Matua population that had migrated to West Bengal from Bangladesh in the 1950s, mostly due to religious persecution.
With an estimated population of 30 lakh in the state, the community can influence poll results in at least five Lok Sabha seats in Bengal.
Shah also claimed that lawlessness has increased in the state, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) dispensation letting loose goons to run its syndicates.
In West Bengal, ‘syndicate’ refers to a group of businessmen, backed by the ruling party, operating mainly in those areas of the state that are witnessing a realty boom.
These businessmen allegedly force promoters and contractors to buy construction materials, often of inferior quality, at high prices.
The state, which was once known for its rich culture, is now a hub of “bomb and illegal gun-making factories”, he maintained.
“Other than bomb manufacturing units, no factory has been set up in the state under the Mamata Banerjee government.
“The sound of bomb explosions has silenced Rabindra sangeet in Bengal. Under the TMC rule, all three –mother, motherland and people (TMC slogan of maa, mati, manush) – are suffering,” he added. (Agencies)
Press Trust of India
