Bharuch:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said people should not make the mistake of voting for “urban Naxals” and alleged that the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are “anti-tribals”.
Speaking at Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat, where the AAP has fielded a candidate as part of its alliance with Congress, he urged people to vote for BJP's sitting MP Mansukh Vasava.
“You will never get a representative like Manuskh Vasava. If you make a mistake, some urban Naxal will take his place (as MP) and destroy this tribal region,” Shah said.
Mansukh Vasava is pitted against sitting MLA Chaitar Vasava of the AAP in Bharuch, which is part of South Gujarat, which has a significant tribal presence.
“The Congress and the AAP have come together to loot people. I have no hesitation in saying that the Congress is an anti-tribal party and the AAP will exploit tribals after getting their votes,” Shah alleged.
The Congress and the AAP are spreading rumors that the BJP will change the Constitution and scrap reservation after winning 400 Lok Sabha seats, he said, adding that the grand old party is an 'expert' and the Arvind Kejriwal-led party an 'expert'.sardar“(leader) in spreading lies.
“These two liars have come together (as part of the INDIA bloc) in Bharuch,” Mr Shah said, pointing out that the Narendra Modi government has been in power with a clear majority for the last decade and could have amended the Constitution change if it had the intention to do so.
“I am here to tell you that Modi guarantees that he will not touch reservations for Adivasis, Dalits or OBCs, nor will he allow anyone to touch them,” Shah said.
The Congress and the AAP are spreading lies that the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will take away the fundamental rights of tribals, Shah further alleged.
“I have seen the UCC bill and it says that the UCC does not apply to the tribes. They (Congress and AAP) are spreading lies. “I would like to tell the thousands of tribals sitting here that Chaitar Vasava (AAP candidate) and his company are spreading. Don't fall for their words because Modi is a friend of Adivasis,” the BJP stalwart said.
The number of Eklavya schools (residential schools for tribals) has increased from 90 under the Congress-led UPA rule to 740 now, while a district mineral fund has been set up with a corpus of Rs 75,000 crore to take care of water, education, health – and nutritional needs of tribals, Mr Shah said.
Attacking the Congress over the Ram temple issue, the BJP leader said, “We invited Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge (for the idol dedication of the Ram temple on January 22), but they were concerned about their vote bank. “
Will Bharuch support those who do not participate in the idol dedication of Lord Ram, Mr Shah asked.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)