Chandigarh: Union Minister Amit Shah on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, calling it an “anti-Dalit” party and said it “insulted” Dalit leaders like Kumari Selja and Ashok Tanwar. Shah also lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on reservation and asserted that if there is anybody who can protect the quota, it is only Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Union Minister further took on Rahul for his remarks made in the USA concerning the Sikh community and asked him to apologise. Shah was addressing a poll rally at Tohana in Fatehabad district for the October 5 Haryana Assembly elections.
“The Congress party is an anti-Dalit party. I want to remind (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda ji and Rahul baba about the 2005 Gohana incident. Who was responsible for this? It was the Congress,” said Shah as he also referred to the 2010 Mirchpur incident.
Under the Congress rule, people were deprived of jobs in the reserved category with “not found for suitable” claims, he said. In the Gohana incident, a few homes of Dalits were set on fire after a Dalit in the village was suspected of being involved in a murder.
In the Mirchpur incident, on April 21, 2010, a group of villagers had allegedly torched more than a dozen houses belonging to Dalits. A teenage girl and her father were charred to death in the incident. Bharat Ratna was not given to Dr B R Ambedkar until the Congress went out of power, he further said.
“The Congress always insulted Dalit leaders, be it Ashok Tanwar (who is now in the BJP) or sister Kumari Selja. The Congress insulted everyone,” he further alleged. The ruling BJP has been targeting the Congress over Dalit leader Selja staying away from the poll campaign.
Recently, Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had invited Selja to join the BJP amid reports that she was staying away from the campaign for the assembly polls. Referring to Gandhi’s remarks on reservation, Shah said, “Rahul Gandhi spoke in America that there was no need for reservation after development. They (Congress) will remove reservation after development. “Our Haryana is a fully developed state. Do you want reservation or not?” Shah asked the gathering.
“If there is anybody who can protect the SC and OBC reservation, it is only (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi,” he further said. Rahul during his interaction with students of the Georgetown University in the US had said the Congress would think of scrapping reservations when “India is a fair place”, which he said is not the case right now.
Shah slammed Gandhi for his remarks concerning the Sikh community and asked him to apologise. “The entire country feels pride on the Sikh Gurus. The tenth Sikh Guru (Gobind Singh) is respected in every home. In every home, school, there is a picture of the tenth Sikh Guru and Guru Nanak Dev.
“And Rahul baba says, Sikhs don’t have freedom to wear turban, ‘kada’ in India. He says Sikhs don’t have permission to visit gurdwaras in the country. Rahul baba, in which India do you live? Not just Sikh brothers, but we all also go and bow our heads before the Guru Granth Sahib.
“Why do you insult? From where have you learnt? And in America you say this,” he said. “I want to ask the people of Tohana, do we respect our Sikh brothers or not? With respect, do Sikh brothers visit gurdwaras wearing turban, ‘kara’ or not? Rahul Baba, what will you say, you have a history of insulting the Sikh ‘panth’, said Shah.
“In Delhi (1984 anti-Sikh) riots, when your government was in power, thousands of Sikhs were massacred on roads, children and mothers were also not spared. And your (Rahul’s) father had said when a big tree falls, earth shakes,” said Shah.
“Rahul baba, if you have to do something, visit a gurdwara wearing a turban, and apologise to Sikhs,” he further said. Shah also alleged “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans were raised in some rallies of the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I was worried after watching it on TV. And Rahul Gandhi does not stop it. Rahul baba, you get ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans raised in rallies, whom do you want to make happy?” he asked. He targeted the previous Congress government, alleging corruption and said the “land of farmers was given away for peanuts in order to please Delhi’s son-in-law”.
Dealers, “damaad” and the corrupt used to call the shots at that time when the Hooda government ruled the state, he said, adding the BJP put an end to the “dealer and damad” government. On the Congress’ manifesto, Shah took a jibe on its promise of two lakh jobs and asked Bhupinder Hooda “to whom will they give these jobs, whether to those who have merit or to those who give “kharchi and parchi (corruption and favouritism)?”.
Attacking the previous Congress government, Shah said before the BJP came to power in the state, government jobs were not given without ‘kharchi’ (corruption) or ‘parchi’ (favouritism). He said it was the BJP government which provided jobs in a transparent manner.
Shah said that earlier in Haryana, two parties used to form governments. “When one party came (to power), corruption used to increase and when the other party came, then ‘gundagardi’ (hooliganism) used to rise. ‘Parivarvad’ and casteism were at peak in both the parties,” said Shah as he attacked the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal. Attacking the Congress over the minimum support price issue, Shah asked if its leaders even know the full form of MSP.
“Rahul baba, when your governments ruled how many crops you purchased at MSP?” he asked. “I say with pride that anywhere in the country, if 24 crops are procured at MSP, it is in Haryana,” he said.