Kharge will lose job, Rahul, Priyanka will not be blamed for LS defeat: Amit Shah

Kushinagar/Ballia/Chandauli (UP), May 27 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will lose his job after the Lok Sabha poll results are announced on June 4 but Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will not be blamed for the defeat, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday.

Shah said Rahul Gandhi's people will also do a press conference post polls, saying they lost due to EVMs.

The Union home minister also addressed election rallies in Ballia and Chandauli.

"I have the details of the first five phases. In five phases of the Lok Sabha polls, PM Modi has crossed 310 seats. Rahul will not cross 40 and Akhilesh Yadav will not get even 4 seats on June 4," he said at an election rally in Kushinagar.

Shah said Kharge will lose his job as "bhai behen" (Rahul and Priyanka) will not be blamed for the defeat.

Slamming the SP and the Congress, he said while PM Narendra Modi was born in the house of a backward, both Rahul and Akhilesh were born with a silver spoon and do not know about the problems being faced by the people of Purvanchal (eastern UP).

"They did not like the weather of the country. Rahul used to go to Thailand on leave every six months. They did not tolerate the heat of Purvanchal. While PM Modi has not taken a single leave in his tenure," he said.

While accusing Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav of being involved in corruption, the senior BJP leader said Modi has never faced any such allegation.

"As chief minister and prime minister, no allegation of corruption of even 25 paisa was levelled against Modi while the two 'shehzade' (Rahul and Akhilesh) were involved in corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore," he alleged without elaborating.

Referring to the Sahara group, Shah claimed, "Akhilesh's party used to run from Sahara's fund. The scam was done in their (SP) regime. We have ensured a refund of people's money and the process has started." The Sahara group firms were accused of circumventing regulations with Ponzi schemes. The group has denied the charges.

Further attacking the SP, Shah claimed in the previous regime there was "one district one mafia" but now we have "one district one product" scheme to benefit the people.

Shah said the sugar mills were closed in the previous SP-BSP regimes while the Yogi Adityanath government has paid cane dues to the farmers.

He told the gathering, "If you people make them (opposition) win, they will take away reservation of Dalits, backwards and tribals and give to Muslims....They did the same in Karnataka, Hyderabad and Bengal, but the HC did not allow it. Muslim reservation cannot be given constitutionally." "They talk of this for their vote bank. You need not worry. Till a single MP of the BJP is there, we will not allow reservation based on religion," Shah said.

The senior BJP leader claimed that the opposition has decided to make one prime minister every year during the five-year tenure.

"Who can give a befitting reply to Pakistan, save you from Covid, end terrorism and naxalism and do welfare of 60 crore people of the country? Only Modi," he asserted.

He said when there will be five prime ministers in five years, the opposition will again implement Article 370, bring back instant triple talaq and start talking to the terrorists.

Raising the Ram temple issue, the home minister said the SP government had opened fire on Ram bhakts while the Congress stalled the temple issue for 70 years.

"Modi ji not only did bhoomi pujan of the temple but also attended the pran pratishtha ceremony, renovated the Kashi Vishwanath temple and worked towards gold plating of the Somnath temple," he said.

Referring to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's Pakistan atom bomb remarks, Shah said, "The BJP people are not afraid of atom bombs. PoK (Pak-occupied Kashmir) is ours and we will take it back." Shah also addressed poll meetings in Ballia for Salempur constituency and in Chandauli.

He continued his attack on the opposition alliance terming it as a "gathering of dynasts".

"Their aim is to make their son, daughter and nephews the chief minister. Can those who work for their sons and daughters do any good to you? Only the one who has a Rs 130 crore family can do good to you, and he is Narendra Modi," he said.

On Article 370, he said, "Rahul (Gandhi) used to threaten him about the revocation of Article 370, saying if it was revoked, there would be bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir. But after it was revoked, no one could dare to pelt a single stone there." He said in the previous Congress government, terrorists came from Pakistan and did blasts in the country and left.

"After Modi came to power, they did Uri and Pulwama after which surgical and air strikes were done in their territory," he added.

Voting on these seats will take place in the seventh phase and last phase on Jun 1. PTI