Congress will give temple funds to minorities if it wins: Shah

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 22

A day after PM Narendra Modi claimed the Congress in its manifesto had called for a survey of every citizen’s wealth and distribute it among the minority communities, Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the party was eyeing funds of temples and ashrams, and if it came to power, it would do what former PM Manmohan Singh had said (in 2006) that minorities should have first right on resources.

Targets Congress over manifesto

• Says Rahul Gandhi should make it clear whether the Congress manifesto mentions about a survey or not
• Their PM Manmohan Singh said (in 2006) that the minority has the first right over the resources, not Adivasis and Dalits
• The BJP says the poor, Adivasi, Dalit and backward sections have the first right to country's resources

Addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker, Shah said, “The Congress has felt the pinch after what the PM said about its manifesto. The Congress manifesto says if it comes to power, it will conduct a survey of citizens’ wealth. I want to ask Rahul (Gandhi) whether his party’s manifesto mentions the survey or not.”

He said, “They are eyeing funds of temples and ashrams too and remember what Manmohan Singh had said about the right on resources. On the other hand, the BJP says the poor, backward and tribals should have the first right on resources.”

He also took a dig at the INDIA bloc, while referring to a scuffle between Congress and RJD workers at a rally in Ranchi on Sunday. “The alliance is far away from assuming power, yet its workers fought among themselves at their Ranchi rally,” he said.

Polling in Kanker will be held in the second phase on April 26. Shah claimed the Centre had eliminated terrorism from the country while Naxalism was on the verge of getting extinct. He asked Naxalites to surrender or else they would be rooted out from Chhattisgarh in two years.

The Home Minister asked Rahul that four generations of his family were in power, but they did nothing for the poor in Chhattisgarh. He said Congress leaders did not even attend the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram’s idol at the Ayodhya temple, fearing they would lose their vote bank.

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