Hyderabad: Reservations for SC, ST, OBCs would not end as long as there is even one BJP MP in Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday.
Shah, who addressed election rallies at Kagaznagar and Nizamabad in Telangana, said Congress fights elections on the basis of lies and referred to the grand old party’s campaign that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would end quotas if BJP is given 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress said Modi would scrap reservations if he gets a majority, but Modi has been having a full majority for the last 10 years, he said.
The prime minister did not use the advantage (majority seats) to scrap reservations but only to remove Article 370, end triple talaq, ban the Popular Front of India (PFI) and construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya, he said.
“They want to say that we will end reservations. I give you a Modi guarantee today. As long as there is even a single BJP member in the country’s parliament, we will not let Dalit, Adivasi, OBC reservations end,” he said.
Referring to the case over his doctored video being circulated on social media, Shah alleged that Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy also forwarded the video.
On Reddy’s allegation that the Delhi police are after him (in the case of doctored video), Shah asked as to what else would happen if a fake video is made.
Observing that Muslim reservation is not Constitutional, he said the BJP would scrap it when it forms government in Telangana and would increase the quotas for Adivasis and Dalits. The Congress curtailed the reservations of OBC, ST, SC and gave to Muslims, he said.
PM Modi removed triple talaq but Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says his party, if it comes to power, would bring triple talaq again, the BJP top leader alleged.
The Congress wants to run the country as per Muslim personal law, he claimed.
The senior BJP leader also alleged that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi did not attend the Ram Temple consecration despite being invited for fear of their vote bank.
He said the vote bank of Congress and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi is the same.
There are two camps in the present elections – NDA led by PM Modi and the ‘Indi alliance’ led by Rahul Gandhi, he said.
While there is Modi, who works tirelessly and even celebrates Deepawali with soldiers, there is “Rahul baba who goes to Bangkok, Thailand for holiday with a slight increase in temperatures,” he said.
Alleging that the BRS and Congress are scared of Owaisi, Shah questioned whether Congress or BRS could save Telangana from Owaisi.
“They have done ABC of appeasement. A – Asaduddin Owaisi, B- BRS, C- Congress,” he said.
The Congress has made Telangana its ATM, he charged.
While GST is imposed in the entire country, ‘RR tax’ is imposed in Telangana, he alleged. ‘RR tax’ is ‘Rahul-Revanth tax’, he claimed.
Shah exuded confidence that the BJP would win more than 10 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana out of the total 17.
The state goes to polls on May 13.
In his address at another rally in Hyderabad, Shah said as long as Modi and BJP are there, none will be allowed to scrap reservations in the country.
Alleging that Congress, BRS and AIMIM indulge in appeasement, he said the parties are such that they cancel permission for the Ram Navami procession for the sake of the Muslim vote bank.
He asked as to who will be prime minister if the INDI Alliance comes to power, though it is not going to happen.
Mentioning the names of leaders, including Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray and Rahul Gandhi, he asked whether they could be made prime minister.
Shah said when a query was put to the INDIA bloc leaders by a journalist, they stated that, by turns, all will become prime minister for one year. The country is not like a shop that will run on partnership, he said.
Urging the people to vote for BJP candidate D Arvind in Nizamabad, Shah said the EVM button should be pressed so strongly that the “current is felt in Italy”.
Referring to the case registered against him in Hyderabad, Shah said he will not “weep” like Revanth Reddy over the case but get quashed in high court.
The city police have registered a case against Shah, BJP Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency candidate K Madhavi Latha and other BJP leaders for allegedly using minors in a poll campaign here recently.
In a complaint to the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Niranjan alleged that on May 1 during a BJP rally from Laldawaza to Sudha Talkies, a few minor children were on the dais with Shah.
The Congress leader alleged that a child was seen with a BJP symbol, highlighting that it was a clear violation of the guidelines of the Election Commission.