Congress playing vote bank politics on NRC, will ensure illegal Bangladeshis are identified: Amit Shah

BJP president Amit Shah put the Congress in his line of fire on Saturday accusing it of playing vote bank politics with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam while saying that the BJP government will ensure that Bangladeshi infiltrators are identified and national security is not compromised.

Addressing a public meeting at Kankroli in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan to flag off chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra, Shah said the Congress should clarify its stand on the NRC. “The BJP government has undertaken the screening of illegal Bangladeshis in the country but Congress is opposing so that their vote bank remains intact,” he said.

Shah said the people of Rajasthan should ask Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his visit here whether the NRC should be implemented or not. “This is not about vote bank politics but about national security,” he said. “There is a Supreme Court order and we will ensure it is implemented and they are identified.”

Setting the agenda for not only the 2018 Rajasthan assembly polls but also the 2019 general elections, Shah said the BJP government has decided to bring a constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament to restore the original provisions of the SC/ST Act after a Supreme Court judgment on 20 March had diluted the Act to bar the immediate arrest of an accused.

He said the BJP has brought in a bill in the Rajya Sabha to give constitutional recognition to the OBC commission. “OBCs have been demanding this since several decades. The people of Rajasthan should ask Rahul Baba if the Congress will support the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.”

Shah said under the BJP government in the state and the centre, Rajasthan had received funds worth Rs 2,63,000 crore while under the Congress government in the state and UPA government at the Centre, the state received central aid of Rs 1,09,000 crore.

Amid chants of ‘Modi, Modi’, Shah exhorted the crowd to vote for Raje and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Rajasthan has progressed under Raje. You have to repeat the Raje-Modi duo in the 2018-2019 elections.”

Referring to the large turnout of people at the public meeting, Shah said, “It looks like the Gaurav Yatra might well turn into a Vijay Yatra.”

Shah took jibes at Congress president, repeatedly referring to him as Rahul Baba. “The Congress has said it will ask us 40 questions. Rahul Baba also asks us what has the BJP done. You are asking us our account of four years but the people of the country want an account of your four generations.”

Shah continued, “I have not come to give an account to Rahul Baba but to the people of Rajasthan.”

He said the Centre has brought in 116 schemes for welfare of the people and mentioned the hike in minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, Swachh Bharat, Ujjwala yojana, PM Awas yojana, electricity. He said 50 crore poor people will be covered under the Ayushman Bharat yojana from September.

NRC in national interest: Rajnath

While Shah taunted the Congress over NRC, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said there should be no politics over the exercise in Assam as it was an issue of national interest.

“I think there should be no politics on the issue of NRC, as the issue of NRC is an issue of national interest. People of Assam were demanding it for a long time, and their demands have been fulfilled. Some people are trying to create fears, but I feel that there is no need for anyone to feel afraid. This is only the draft NRC for Assam. People will get time to settle claims and objections,” Singh said in Lucknow.

Over 40 lakh people have been left out of the second and final draft of the NRC published on July 30.

The process of claims and objections to the NRC will start on August 30 and continue for a month, and if required NRC authorities may extend the period by another month — till October 30, according to the home ministry. “If they are still not satisfied, people can appeal to the foreigners’ tribunal,” Singh said.

(With PTI inputs)

First Published: Aug 04, 2018 20:00 IST