BJP President Amit Shah addresses the Press on the four-year report card of the government at the party HQ. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)
BJP national president Amit Shah on Saturday contended that the saffron party wants to fight the 2019 general elections together with Shiv Sena, which shares an acrimonious relationship with the latter. “I repeat this, that we want Shiv Sena and BJP to fight together in 2019 elections,” Shah was quoted as saying by ANI. The BJP chief was addressing a press conference as BJP marks the completion of four years in power.
Sena and BJP have been at loggerheads for some time with the former criticising the BJP and the union government time and again, hinting at the strain in the relations between the two estranged partners.
On questions pertaining to the strained relationship with the allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Shah said “TDP left but Nitish Ji came, 11 more parties became part of the NDA after 2014. The family of NDA has increased, not decreased. Only Chandrababu Ji (Andhra Pradesh CM) left.”
While the government continues its silence on the unchecked fuel price rise, Shah hit back at the Congress on raising the issue. “The current prices of petrol and diesel were the same during three years of Congress government. But they are fed up of these raised prices in only three days in our government? Government is thinking about that & will form a long-term solution for it,” Shah added.
Slamming Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his tweet grading the performance of the Modi government terming its policies failure in several core sectors, Shah said, “What else do you expect from Rahul Gandhi? He is in the opposition, he has to do this. Wo thodi na hamare bakhan karenge (They will not praise us). We have presented facts & figures and anyone can challenge that.”
Praising the government’s quick reaction to terrorism, Shah said the government exhibited its political willingness to take on the country’s adversaries by launching the surgical strikes conducted across the LoC.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ended politics of appeasement, dynasty and casteism, and ushered politics of development,” Shah said. The BJP president said the government has also resolved the long-pending issue of One Rank One Pension within a year of coming to power.
Meanwhile, the Congress attacked the Modi government which enters its final year of governance and said that now people know that the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo was harmful for the country after four years of the NDA rule, and described it as a period of “treachery, trickery, revenge and lies”.