Amit Shah attacks Congress on NRC, OBC bill at Mughalsarai renaming event

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Sunday attacked the Congress again over Assam’s National Register for Citizens (NRC) and dared it to clear its stand on the OBC Bill, saying that would expose whether the party was really for the backward communities.

The Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2017, commonly known as OBC Bill, was passed in the Lok Sabha on August 2 and will now go to the Rajya Sabha. The proposed legislation seeks to grant the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) constitutional status on a par with National Commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Shah, who attended a function over the renaming of Mughalsarai railway junction to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, charged the Opposition with vote bank politics on the issue of NRC.

“Complying with the orders of the Supreme Court, we have brought the NRC. Mamata Banerjee says NRC should not be there. Congress says there is no need for it. For the last four days, I am asking Rahul baba (Congress president Rahul Gandhi) whether NRC should be there or not. Rahul ji is not responding,” he said.

“Do the Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) want Bangladeshi intruders to stay in the country? I know the people of UP don’t want Bangladeshi infiltrators here. Every Bangladeshi infiltrator should be thrown out of the country,” he said.

“The Modi government has got the OBC Bill passed in the Lok Sabha. This will go to the Rajya Sabha. Will Rahul Gandhi clear his stand before the country whether his party will help in the passage of the Bill in Rajya Sabha or not? This will make it clear whether the Congress is really for the welfare of backward classes,” Shah said.

Shah, railway minister Piyush Goyal and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath formally unveiled the renamed station’s plaque, giving the over-a-century-old Mughalsarai junction a new identity. Shah termed the moment as “historic”.

Goyal said, “Renaming of the (Mughalsarai) junction is a matter of pride. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya is a ‘sapoot’ (son) of the railways as his father and maternal uncle worked for the railways.”

“This name will be a source of inspiration for all,” Adityanath said.

The state government had issued a notification to rename Mughalsarai junction on June 4 and sent a copy to the Railway Board and other departments concerned. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh’s founder member, was found dead near the station under mysterious circumstances in February 1968.

(With PTI inputs)

First Published: Aug 05, 2018 21:48 IST