Union Home Minister Amit Shah being garlanded by MP Gopalji Thakur during an awareness rally on Citizenship (amendment) Act, in Vaishali of Bihar on January 16. Bihar Deputy Chief Sushil Kumar Modi, State BJP President Sanjay Jaiswal (extreme right) and Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai (extreme left) are also seen. | Photo Credit: Ranjeet Kumar

Patna

16 January 2020 22:19 IST

BJP president sets at rest leadership question ahead of Assembly election

Bharatiya Janata Party president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said Nitish Kumar would lead the NDA in the Assembly election in Bihar due this year.

“I want to make it clear once and for all that NDA will contest the next Assembly election in Bihar under Nitish Kumar….Lalu’s dream to become chief minister again will not be fulfilled”, said Mr. Shah, while addressing a public meeting as part of the party’s ongoing Jan Jagran Abhiyan (people’s outreach programme) on the new citizenship law, CAA, in Vaishali, near Patna.

While listing the achievements of the NDA governments in Bihar and at the Centre, Mr. Shah slammed the Opposition and the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad. “We took Bihar from lantern age to LED age, from loot to law and order, fodder scam to protection of cows and from jungle raj to janata raj”, he said.

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He also appealed to the audience to dial 88662 on their mobile phone to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked how many of them dialled the number. However, very few hands were raised.

“The new citizenship law is not for taking away anyone’s citizenship but to give citizenship to those who were persecuted and oppressed in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and seek refuge in our country”, explained Mr. Shah, while asking people, “whether we should give them citizenship or not?”. “But, the opposition Congress party, Lalu Prasad, Arvind Kerjriwal and Mamata Banerjee are opposing this…they speak the same language of Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan”, he added.

“It was the Congress government which had divided the country earlier on religious grounds…30% Hindus were living each in East (now Bangladesh) and west Pakistan but today there are only 7% Hindus in Bangladesh and 15% in Pakistan — who is responsible for this?”, asked Mr. Shah. “Lalu, Rahul and Company should answer where they have gone”, he said.

“When slogans like Bharat tere tukde honge hazaar were chanted in JNU, the Modi government sent them to jail but the Kejriwal government was opposing it…don’t you think they should be sent to jail?”, Mr. Shah asked the audience. When the new Citizenship Act came in there was communal tension in several parts of the country. “Congress party, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Co. are responsible for the communal tension over CAA”, he alleged.

The BJP chief declared that “the process of construction of a Ram temple will begin in Ayodhya within four months”. He listed the abrogation of Article 370, 35 (A) and surgical strikes in Pakistan as the government’s achievements.

Mr. Shah asked party leaders and workers to undertake a door-to-door campaign in the State and explain to people the new citizenship law and how the Opposition has been spreading rumours over it.

On Tuesday Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had come to Gaya in Bihar to remove ‘misgivings’ on CAA but protesters sent up black balloons during his speech.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav too began his four-day Pratishodh Yatra in Muslim-dominated Seemanchal (border districts) on Thursday to intensify the anti-CAA stir.