Amit Shah's Firebrand Rallies in UP: A Battle of Power and Promises

Home Minister Amit Shah, addressing multiple rallies in Uttar Pradesh, criticized the Samajwadi Party for past power shortages and praised the BJP's achievements, including the construction of the Ram temple and tackling mafia rule. He emphasized the choice between a developed future and regressive opposition policies in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the Samajwadi Party over ''power shortages'' during its term in Uttar Pradesh, and said the supply was uninterrupted during Ramzan but not on Janmashtami.

Addressing poll rallies in the state, Shah said this Lok Sabha election presents a choice between those who constructed the Ram temple and those who opened fire at Ram bhakts.

The home minister addressed four rallies -- first at Maharajganj, then Deoria, Ballia and Robertsganj -- canvassing for BJP and NDA candidates who are in the fray in the last and the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls on June 1. Speaking at his rally in Ballia -- where the BJP denied a ticket to sitting MP Virendra Singh Mast in favour of former prime minister Chandra Shekhar's son Neeraj Shekhar -- Shah launched a broadside against Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, alleging mafia used to harass people during its rule.

''When the BJP came to power, Yogi Adityanath was made chief minister and he fixed the mafias,'' Shah said. Uttar Pradesh also faced electricity woes during the SP government, he said.

''There was power supply only for three-four hours. There was uninterrupted supply during Ramzan but not on Janmashtami. (Ramzan me toh puri aati thi, magar Janmashtami ke din nhin aati thi. After the BJP come to power, our Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ensured 18-hour power supply,'' Shah said. At his poll meeting in Deoria in support of BJP candidate Shashank Mani Tripathi, Shah accused the opposition of stalling the construction of the Ram Mandir for over 70 years and said the temple could only be built because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

''This election is between those who constructed the Ram temple and those who opened fire on Ram bhakts,'' he said, referring to the firing at kar sevaks in 1990 when the late Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

At his Maharajganj rally also, Shah took a jibe at INDIA bloc allies Samajwadi Party and the Congress, saying they have already decided to blame Electronic Voting Machines for their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

''The counting is on June 4. In the afternoon the two 'shehzade' (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) will hold a press conference and say we lost the election because EVM was defective,'' he said.

''Modi has crossed 310 seats in five rounds of polls. Rahul baba you will not get even 40 seats and the other 'shehzade' (Akhilesh Yadav) will just get four seats,'' he said at the rally in support of party candidate Pankaj Chaudhary.

The Congress won 52 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections while the Samajwadi Party (SP) just five.

The opposition does not have a PM candidate and they say they will have five PMs in five years, Shah said. ''This is not a general store but a nation of 130 crore people. Can such a PM work?'' Targeting the opposition, he said Congress leaders assert that Pakistan has an atom bomb but the BJP is ''not scared of atom bombs''.

''Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is and will remain a part of India. And we will take it back,'' he asserted.

Referring to the Sahara 'scam', Shah claimed it occurred when the parties that are currently in opposition were in power. ''Akhilesh Yadav, the scam took place in your government! Modi ji started the process of refund (to the customers impacted by the Sahara 'scam','' he said.

Sahara group firms were accused of circumventing regulations with Ponzi schemes. The group has denied the charges.

The senior BJP leader also accused the previous governments of shutting down sugar mills and promised that a new mega sugar mill will be constructed in Maharajganj if the BJP comes to power again.

At the rally in Deoria, Shah claimed there were rampant terrorist attacks during the Congress government. ''When Narendra Modi came to power, we conducted surgical strike and air strike and hit Pakistan in their home and ended terrorism.'' He accused the opposition parties of trying to end reservation for SC/ST/OBC in order to appease their vote bank.

''I want to give a 'Modi guarantee', no one can lay hands on the reservation of SC/ST and OBC till even a single MP of BJP is in Parliament. These people have reduced the reservation of backward classes for appeasement politics,'' he said.

He praised Aditayanth for his focus on cleanliness and decisive action against mafias. ''Yogi ji has cleared mosquitoes with his cleanliness drive and the mafia in his own 'style'.'' At his Robertsganj rally, Shah alleged that in 1989, the SP government ordered firing on tribals who were protesting against a cement factory there.

''Make Modi the prime minister and all the tribals will get 'Van Adhikar Patta' (rights of the use of forests). People associated with the SP have snatched the rights of tribals by illegal mining. ''Modi has reserved a part of the minerals extracted from here for tribals by creating a District Mineral Fund. The BJP has also completed the Kanhar project and provided water to the fields of tribals,'' he said.

''This entire area is at the border of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It was affected by Naxalism. The Modi government has ended Naxalism. Six-seven years ago, it was very difficult to get drinking water in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra... in three years, the BJP is going to complete the work of providing tap water to the houses.''

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)