Addressing an election rally in Maharashtra’s Chalisgaon on Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that if the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) wins the assembly elections, the state will end up being an ATM for Congress.
“They (the Congress-backed MVA) will withdraw funds from Maharashtra and send the cash to Delhi,” Shah said.
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The Union home minister made fun of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying, “Recently, Rahul Gandhi was seen waving a copy of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution. He used the same copy for taking the oath in Parliament. But after journalists laid their hands on that copy, it had only blank pages. By showing a fake Constitution, Rahul has broken the trust of the people and insulted Babasaheb Ambedkar. Rahul Baba, you have never read the Constitution,” he said.
Dismissing the claims that investment in Maharashtra had dropped under the Mahayuti government, he said, “The truth is that after Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis formed the government, Maharashtra is the number one state attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India,” he said.
Shah said the Mahayuti government would bring benefits to Maharashtra. “Your single vote will not only bring the Mahayuti to power but will also deposit Rs 2,100 in the accounts of Maharashtra’s sisters. Your single vote will result in depositing Rs 15,000 instead of Rs 12,000 annually in bank accounts of farmers,” he assured.
He criticised the Congress party for not fulfilling its pre-election promises in Telangana, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh.
Earlier during the day, Shah attacked the Congress-backed Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance at an election rally in Dhule, Maharashtra.
Ridiculing Rahul Gandhi over alleged demands from Muslim leaders for reservations, Shah said, “Rahul Baba, even if your fourth generation comes, Muslims will never receive reservations meant for SCs, STs and OBCs.”
He reminded that the quotas for these groups are constitutionally protected.
Calling the MVA “Aurangzeb fan club”, he accused the Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray of abandoning the principles of his late father Bal Thackeray by joining hands with Congress and NCP leaders who resisted initiatives like the renaming of Aurangabad, construction of the Ram Temple, abrogation of Article 370, and the 2016 surgical strikes against Pakistan. “The Aghadi only wants appeasement. Uddhavji has forgotten all the principles of Balasaheb Thackeray. Maharashtra has only two options before it – the MVA, which is the Aurangzeb fan club, or the Mahayuti, which follows the principles of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Veer Savarkar,” Shah contended.
He said the BJP-backed Mahayuti is a force for “vikas” (development) while the MVA is a guarantee for “vinaash” (destruction), urging voters to choose a party committed to development.
