New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a scathing attack on the opposition, specifically targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, amid the ongoing protests in the national capital over the ‘SIR’ controversy and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Addressing a public gathering, Shah stated that the opposition’s agitations stem from their inability to digest the Bharatiya Janata Party’s consistent electoral victories. Dismissing the allegations of electoral malpractice, he said, “Through such political gimmicks and mobocracy, you cannot deny the mandate of the country. If you want to win elections, stay among the people and understand their pain.” He sternly warned the opposition to focus on governance in the states they rule, adding, “Otherwise, whatever little is left of you will also be gone.”
Shah accused the Congress of using “vote theft” and electronic voting machines (EVMs) as convenient excuses to shield the votes of “infiltrators”. Taking a deep dive into the Congress’s electoral history, he pointed out that the party’s struggles began long before the Narendra Modi government assumed power at the Centre. He reminded the opposition of their decades-long political drought in several states, noting that the Congress has not formed governments in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh for 41 years, in West Bengal for 54 years, and in Delhi for 18 years.
Exposing what he termed the opposition’s “double standards,” the Home Minister questioned their shifting stance on democratic institutions. “You won recent elections in Kerala, Telangana, and Himachal Pradesh using the same voter list, the same EVMs, and under the same Election Commission. When you win, the Election Commission is good, but when you lose, the Election Commission is flawed,” Shah remarked, adding that the opposition applies the exact same logic to judicial verdicts.
Taking a veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi’s frequent foreign visits, Shah asserted his own grassroots connection. “I do not have to travel abroad every six months. I am born here, I live here, and I will die here among the people of this country,” he stated.
Dismissing the current demonstrations, Shah stated that mobilizing party cadres from neighbouring states to protest in Delhi cannot change the reality of the public mandate. Criticising the opposition’s negative brand of politics, he confidently predicted that the BJP will remain in power for the next 30 years.