BJP president Amit Shah on Monday asked party workers in poll-bound Rajasthan to think about ‘Bharat Mata’ and ‘Lotus’ when they campaign, prompting opposition party Congress to ask whether he has lost faith in the state’s Vasundhara Raje government.
Addressing BJP workers at an event in the industrial city of Bhilwara, Shah asked them to work hard at the booth level, saying elections cannot be won only through achievements of the government and it was an election of party workers rather than just of any minister or chief minister.
At the same time, the BJP chief also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Vasundhara Raje are working as double engines to lead the country and the state, respectively, and every party worker should visit door-to-door to highlight the work done by the two leaders.
He also highlighted several achievements of the Modi government at the Centre, listing surgical strike against Pakistan, increase in minimum support price for farm produce and vaccination scheme among others.
Exuding confidence in party workers, Shah said that it was not an election of any minister or chief minister but it was an election of party workers and the BJP.
Party workers should think only about the party symbol ‘Lotus’ and ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India) when they campaign, he said at the ‘Shakti Kendra Sammelan’ event.
Reacting to his speech, Rajasthan Congress Chief Sachin Pilot said the saffron party head has lost faith in five-year tenure of Raje government in the state as he was seeking votes in the name of ‘Bharat Mata’ and the BJP.
Shah also hit out at the Congress on issues of NRC (National Register of Citizens in Assam) and surgical strike. He said the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, or the grand alliance, that the Opposition is talking about will not be able to defeat the BJP.
Shah will address ‘Shakti Kendra Sammelan’ in Nagaur and Udaipur on Tuesday. The BJP president is interacting with party workers at various places through this event. Since July, this is Shah’s third visit to the state where assembly elections are scheduled to take place later this year.
At another event in Bhilwara, Shah celebrated Modi’s birthday with differently-abled children and said the prime minister’s life was dedicated people of the country, its pride and its development.
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, Chief Minister Raje and the state Congress leaders Pilot and Ashok Gehlot also extended greetings to prime minister Modi on his birthday.
“An overall development of the country has taken place in your leadership. India is moving ahead on the path of development. Your thought and trust among people for you gave a positive direction to the nation,” Singh said in his message to the prime minister.
Raje said India is once again figuring among the forward nations of the world under Modi’s energetic leadership and He has created a wave of a new hope in every Indian’s mind through his excellent thoughts.
Pilot and Gehlot tweeted their birthday greetings for the prime minister.
First Published: Sep 17, 2018 20:37 IST
Source: HindustanTimes