‘Taught perpetrators of riots a lesson in 2002’

Vadodara/Ahmedabad: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday said while Congress incited riots to strengthen its vote bank, the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government ‘taught a lesson’ to those perpetrators in 2002 to bring perennial peace in Gujarat. The state has not witnessed a curfew ever since, he said addressing a public rally in Mahudha in Kheda district.
Shah said that during Congress rule in the state (before 1995), communal riots were rampant. “Congress used to incite people of different communities and castes to fight against each other. Through riots, Congress had strengthened its vote bank and did injustice to large sections of the society,” said Shah.
He added that Gujarat had witnessed riots in 2002 because the perpetrators had become habitual of indulging in violence as they enjoyed the support of the Congress.
“In 2002 at the time of Narendrabhai, they (Congress) tried to create mischief once again. They were taught such a lesson that from 2002 till 2022, nobody has raised their heads. Those instigating riots have left the state,” he said.
Addressing a public meeting in Jhalod, Shah said that despite provisions in the constitution, the allocation of budget for tribals equal to their ratio in the population was done when Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat. He said that Congress did not bother to do this when it was in power since 1960.
Shah said that the last Congress government in the state had made a budget of Rs 900 crore and this had now increased to Rs 1 lakh crore.
The Union home minister slammed the Congress for creating hurdles in the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. “The Congress did not allow this to happen for 70 years and kept it entangled in legal matters,” he said adding that the ‘bhoomi poojan’ for the temple was done only after Modi came to power.
Taking a dig at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the union minister said that when a vaccine was developed in the country, Gandhi criticized it saying it was a Modi vaccine. “Eventually, he too took the vaccine in the darkness of the night to protect himself from Corona,” Shah said. He added that the poor were given free grains during Covid, but if Congress had been in power the grains would have gone to MP or Rajasthan. The two states share borders with Dahod.
Shah took another jibe at Gandhi saying that in 2014 Gandhi used to criticize the BJP saying that it did not tell when the temple will be made. “On January 1, 2024, a grand temple will be ready there (in Ayodhya),” Shah said.
Speaking about the surgical strike after the Pulwanma terror attack, Shah said that both Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal sought proof of the surgical strike. “Both agree on this one thing. There cannot be proof of such things. You doubt the valour of our armed forces. If you want proof, switch to Pakistani channels. They are wailing. That is proof (of the surgical strike).”