Tell us about your agenda: BJP president Amit Shah snaps back at media

With the Bharatiya Janata Party on the backfoot over the beef controversy and the writers protest against the “rising intolerance”, its chief Amit Shah on Monday said that the BJP cannot be blamed for incidents which occurred in states ruled by other parties.

Addressing a press conference in Bihar for the first time since assembly elections began, Shah also said that the BJP supports the present reservation policy as he sought to clear the air over Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on quota, which have been seized by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad to consolidate backward caste votes.

A day after he ticked off a number of party leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Member of Parliament Sakshi Maharaj and Member of Legislative Assembly Sangeet Som, over their controversial comments, Shah said that the parties in power in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka were answerable for the incidents cited by protesting writers. 

The two incidents, Dadri lynching and the murder of noted Kannada writer and rationalist M M Kalburgi, happened in the Samajwadi Party-ruled UP and the Congress-ruled Karnataka respectively, he noted, adding “law and order is a state issue. You all know that. We have nothing to do with it”.

The protest by writers was primarily driven by these two incidents, he insisted.      

With numerically strong backward groups seen to be supporting the grand alliance, he reached out to extremely backward castes and scheduled castes, saying they “dread” the return of a government which will be “remote-controlled” by RJD chief Lalu Prasad.         

He also took on journalists who repeatedly asked him questions over Bhagwat’s comments and recent rows over Dadri lynching and beef, saying they should declare what is their agenda was before they ask about the BJP’s agenda.

“You are not asking me any questions about Bihar or Nitish Kumar’s government... Before asking about the BJP’s agenda, you should tell us about your agenda,” Shah retorted.

Shah said that the BJP-led NDA will win 32-34 seats in the first phase of polling and 22-24 in the second phase out of the total 81 seats that have gone to polls so far.

He also rejected reports that the BJP had cancelled some rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi because it wanted to pull him out of the campaign limelight due to its poor show in the first two phases, as alleged by the rival grand alliance leaders, and asserted that he will address as many rallies as earlier planned.          

Modi is set to address 13 more rallies in the coming days.

“Prasad should remember that it is not 1990, but 2015. A lot of water has flown in the Ganga over the past 25 years,” the BJP national president said.

NDA’s bid to make development the central issue in Bihar polls will not be allowed to be derailed, he said, adding people were being misled on sensitive and divisive issues by adversaries.

“We are seeking votes for the BJP-led coalition in the state so that the next state government should function in tandem with the Centre and take forward development works to the logical end,” he said.

The NDA is projected to win 32-34 seats out of 49 in the first phase of polling and 22-24 seats out of 32 seats in the second, he said and appealed to people to vote for the coalition in large number in remaining three phases of the polls to give a decisive mandate in favour of the NDA.

An NDA government will tirelessly work for development to remove Bihar’s ‘BIMARU’ tag, while the Secular Alliance government will be remote controlled by Prasad for whom development has never been a priority during his party’s 15-year rule in the state, Shah claimed.

He reiterated the PM’s interest in development of Bihar saying that the latter has given a special package of Rs 1.65 lakh crore to the state and the 14th Finance Commission has tweaked sharing ratio of central tax resources to an extent that Bihar will get an additional Rs two lakh crore over the next five years.

On the allegation that the special package is in reality a ‘repackaging’, Shah said if it was so then Kumar and the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre were responsible for not executing projects like bridges over the Ganges.

Kumar should ask his ally Congress as to why Bihar specific projects were not completed for years, he said.

Stating that governance deficit has dogged Bihar during Nitish Kumar’s rule in the past two years, he said that Bihar stands among the bottom ranked states at 27 on prevalence of business atmosphere in comparison to Jharkhand, which has jumped to third place against 29th rank last year.

Over the past two years, criminal activities have increased alarmingly and development activities have come to a grinding halt in Bihar, Shah said.

Despite tall claims being made by Kumar, the fact remains that the people of Bihar have to still go outside for education, medical treatment and employment, he said.

About questions being raised on cancellation of PM’s rallies in Bihar, he said there has been no change in Modi’s electioneering and no rally was scheduled during festivity for two weeks between the second and third phases. 

Modi will address 22 rallies in the remaining three phases in Bihar, he said.