Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of
encouraging Naxalism and claimed that incidents of Naxal violence have come
down by 52 per cent in the nine-year rule of the Narendra Modi Government.
Addressing a rally in Jagdalpur in poll-bound
Chhattisgarh, Shah urged people to bring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to
power in the State currently ruled by the Congress, promising that his party
will make the entire state free of the Naxal menace.
He claimed that if the Congress comes back to power in
Chhattisgarh, the money sent from the Centre for the State’s development will
be “diverted to Delhi through the ‘ATM’ of Congress”.
Polling for the 90 Assembly seats in Chhattisgarh is
scheduled to be held in two phases on November 7 and 17 and votes will be
counted on December 3.
Shah said the people of Chhattisgarh will celebrate
Diwali thrice – once on the day of the festival, second when the BJP will be
elected to power on December 3, and third when the construction of Ram temple
will be completed in January, as Chhattisgarh is the “nanihal” of Lord Ram (the
place of Lord Ram’s maternal grandparents).
The rally was held in Jagdalpur, the headquarters of
Bastar district, ahead of the filing of nominations of BJP candidates in three
constituencies of Bastar.
The Bastar region was once considered as the worst
affected by Naxalism and the menace still persists in some places. “Elect the
BJP to power in the State, we will free the entire State of the menace,” said Shah.
“In 9 years of the Modi Government, incidents of (Naxal)
violence declined by 52 per cent, deaths (in Maoist violence) came down by 70
per cent, civilian deaths decreased by 68 per cent, while the (number of)
Naxal-affected districts declined by 62 per cent,” the Union Minister said.
“(Prime Minister) Modi ji has done a lot of work in
the interest of tribals across the country. Apart from protecting their jal
(water), jungle, zameen (land), the Modi government has worked to provide
security, respect and inclusive development to tribals,” he said.
Urging people to vote for the BJP, Shah said, “There
are two options in front of you, one is the Congress which encourages Naxalism
while on the other hand, there is the BJP which eliminates Naxalism. The
Congress which sent crores of rupees of corruption to Delhi Darbar, while the
BJP which is providing gas cylinders, toilets, drinking water, health
facilities, grains and houses to crores of poor people.”
PTI
