Union Home Minister Amit Shah blamed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the decline in the country’s political standards, asserting that a strong opposition is beneficial for the nation, but the choice ultimately lies with the people.
Amit Shah reiterated that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government will return to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He mentioned that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has already crossed the necessary numbers to form the government in the first five phases of the general elections.
“We are somewhere between 300 and 310… this is excluding the last phase… We are in a comfortable position. This time, we went to the people with 10 years of track record and 25 years of a powerfully positive agenda,” Shah told the Indian Express in an interview.
Shah emphasised that a strong opposition is good for the country. “Yes, I accept that, but the people will decide. We cannot create it. It cannot happen because you wish it to happen,” he said.
Clarifying his statement on a ‘Congress-must Bharat’, Shah explained that he meant India should rid itself of the Congress party’s ideology. “But even that ideology isn’t there in the Congress now,” he added.
Shah blamed Rahul Gandhi for the decline in political standards. “In my opinion, it’s after the entry of Rahul Gandhi into the party that the Congress’s behaviour changed, and the standards of politics fell. This also influenced the attitude of those parties which had allied with the Congress,” Shah stated.
The Home Minister also noted that the opposition’s weakness has no bearing on Prime Minister Modi’s sense of mission for the nation. He listed several reasons for the Prime Minister’s popularity, including efforts to raise the standard of living for 60 crore people over 10 years and initiatives like providing housing, toilets, water, a Rs-5 lakh insurance scheme, 5 kg of food grains, and gas cylinders.
Shah highlighted Modi’s decisive action during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that the Prime Minister launched the vaccine mission immediately and used technology to protect 132 crore people. “Elsewhere, even in advanced nations, the fight against Corona sputtered because there the government fought while here the government and the people fought together,” he said.
By the end of phase 6 polling on Saturday, elections to 486 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats were completed. The BJP-led NDA, seeking a record third term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has set a target of winning 400 seats this election. The ruling alliance faces a challenge from opposition parties led by the Congress under the banner of the INDIA bloc.
