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protest against washout of parliament (Dharwad)
BJP National President Shri Amit Shah accused the Congress of dividing the nation and the society as he staged a sit-in at Hubballi near Dharwad city on 12 April, 2018 to protest the recent washout of the budget session of parliament. He also said “The BJP does not need to prove anything to the Congress. The people of the country trust the party and its leaders will keep that trust by serving them”.
He said the protest was being held in the entire nation to save democracy.
Shri Shah, on the sixth round of his campaigning in poll-bound Karnataka, was joined by BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate Shri B S Yeddyurappa, former Chief Minister Shri Jagadish Shettar, MPs Shri Prahlad Joshi and Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar and other senior party functionaries.
Charging the Congress with dividing the people over caste, creed and religion, the BJP President said the ruling party in Karnataka will stoop to any level to retain power but will not succeed this time. “Though the Congress stoops to any level to retain power, the people who could see through its ploy will teach a lesson in the May 12 state assembly elections and bring the BJP to power again,” he said.
Terming parliament as the temple of democracy and biggest panchayat in democracy, he said that because of the stand taken by the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha could not function.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, he said the logjam in Parliament for 22 days led to a loss of Rs. 250 crore. “Usually the government runs away from a debate, but here the opposition was unwilling to discuss important issues,” he said.
The BJP National President said the government was ready for a discussion but the opposition ran away from it, because “the Congress did not have the guts to discuss issues)”. “We said we are ready to discuss the (Punjab National Bank) issue as none of our leaders or ministers was involved in it,” he said.
Shri Shah said, “If the list of your (Congress) leaders involved in scams was to be brought out, the Congress would be empty”.
He said while running away from discussion, the Congress later got notices of no-confidence motion through smaller parties. We said we are ready to even discuss the no-confidence motion (if it was brought), because their no-confidence could not have done anything as the people of this country have confidence in Shri Narendra Modi,” he said.
Alleging that the Congress did not believe in democracy, he said, “Rahul baba is going around everywhere speaking about democracy. It looks like some NGO has handed over to him the word democracy.” “Rahul baba, go through your party’s history,” he said, recalling the Emergency under “his grandmother Indira Gandhi”.
“You come and preach us about democracy, while you had kept democracy imprisoned inside your home,” he said, as he launched a sharp attack on the Congress. “Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi…., (after that) we don’t know which Gandhi next. Doesn’t anyone else have credibility in this country,” he said.
Shri Amit Shah said that there was no internal democracy in the Congress party. “The Congress cannot protect democracy in this country,” he said.
Asserting that the people clearly understood the Congress and its tactics, he listed out the states where BJP has gained after the 2014 parliamentary election win.
“It is Karnataka’s turn now. The people of the state have made up their mind to form a BJP government under the leadership of Yeddyurappa (in the May 12 polls),” he said.
Shri Shah told Gandhi that the kind of politics which attempts to divide the society, shut the voice of democracy, and not allow the Houses to function, would not continue for long.
Shri Amit Shah said, “You may be thinking where will the BJP speak by not allowing the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to function. We have come directly to the people as in democracy the people are supreme. We have come to the people’s court”.
Stating that the people would teach a lesson to the Congress for following the “politics of divisiveness” by “slitting the throat of democracy,” Shri Shah said the first opportunity for it would come in Karnataka.
Terming the Siddaramaiah government as the most corrupt in the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party President said the ruling party had become an ATM (any time money) for its high command in Delhi.
Blaming the Congress of fanning hatred in the country and playing divisive politics, Shri Amit Shah said the wise people understood its sinister tactics and defeated its candidates in state after state since 2014. “It’s turn of the Karnataka people to free the state from the Congress and time up for (Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah to go home,” he said.
Holding the Karnataka government responsible for about 3,500 farmers committing suicide due to agrarian crisis over the last 5 years, the BJP President said though the central government had released funds for irrigation projects, the farmers did not benefit as many of them could not be completed due to delays and graft.
Earlier in the day, Shri Shah visited Siddharoodha mutt at Hubballi and took blessings of its seer Paramarooda for the party’s victory at the hustings. He also visited the memorial of Kannada poet Da Ra Bendre at Dharwad.
Addressing the gathering BJP State President Shri BS Yeddyurappa said, “As the Congress is a broken house and confused, I am confident of our party coming back to power with majority in the state,” he asserted on the occasion.