2024 a choice between ‘gareeb ma ka beta and dynasts’, Amit Shah says at BJP meet

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, February 18

On the second and concluding day of the BJP National Council meeting in the National Capital, Union Home Minister Amit Shah crafted the upcoming Lok Sabha election as a choice between “developmental and dynastic alliances” led by “gareeb ma ka beta on the one hand and dynasts on the other.”

Capping the decade long rule of BJP led NDA coalition under Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “period of all-round, all-inclusive development”, Shah went out all guns blazing against the Congress-led INDIA bloc calling it a grouping of “seven dynastic parties working to install sons and daughter in key posts.”

Shah likened the 2024 General Election with the Mahabharata saying “The next election is a contest like the Mahabharata where two factions were ranged against one another – the Pandavas and the Kauravas. On one side is the NDA coalition under PM Modi and on the other is the INDI alliance under the Congress. The Ghamandia coalition is the nurturer of politics of corruption, dynasty, casteism and appeasement. The NDA rule is a rule of nation first with PM Modi eradicating the evils of corruption, dynasties, appeasement and caste politics,” said Shah to frequent applause for Modi at the meeting venue, Bharat Mandapam.

The Union Home Minister attacked the Congress as a “mother of instability” listing 90 occasions when the party dislodged elected governments and said the Congress record of destabilizing governments cannot be broken for the next 100 years.

Shah argued that the INDI alliance where constituent parties were consumed by the urge of installing sons and daughters as CMs “can never care for the poor.”

“The INDI alliance is a group of seven dynastic parties which have no internal democracy. If you can’t establish democracy in your own parties, you can’t establish democracy in the country. The 2024 election is a choice between developmental alliance and dynastic alliance led by Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi respectively. I am sure the country will select the NDA which has established the practice of development politics of development,” he said, asking cadres to go to the people and tell them that they have to choose between family based parties and a poor mother’s son.

The top BJP strategist slammed INDI partners saying Sonia Gandhi wants son Rahul to become PM; MK Stalin and Sharad Pawar want son and daughter to be CMs; late Mulayam Singh installed Akhilesh Yadav as CM.

“The BJP, on the other hand, gave an extremely backward class PM to the country, a President who hails from the most marginalised tribal segment, a Vice-President who is the son of a farmer. In the BJP a booth worker can rise to become President and PM because we have democratised the party,” home minister said, lashing out at Congress led INDI bloc for what he described as a negative politics of opposing everything.

Limits were reached when the Congress declined an invite to attend Ram Mandir inauguration, said Shah noting: “By doing so they stood alienated from the growth journey of India.”

The Home Minister also questioned the Congress for “distorting the constitutional concept of secularism by practising a politics of appeasememt”, and held it accountable for India’s partition.

“The divisive mentality of the Congress lives on as we recently heard its leader ask for the partition of India into two nations,” Shah said adding, “Rahul Gandhi should have some shame for opposing the abrogation of Article 370 and giving Pakistan a handle against India in the UN.”

The leading BJP poll planner listed serial saffron wins in UP, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, Tripura, to argue that the country should elect Modi for a third time to see India become the third largest global economy.

Shah also hailed Modi for rooting out naxalism and terrorism which, he said, were counting last breaths in India.

The Home Minister gave the whole credit of Ram Mandir inauguration to Modi and his tenacity and lauded the majority Hindus for resiliently struggling for the cause in courts over 75 years.

Shah reserved some sharp barbs for Rahul Gandhi saying the “Congress prince has a habit of repeating a script for eight months and is parroting an OBC line these days.”

“Rahul Gandhi should read history and how his ancestors JL Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi opposed pro OBC moves,” said Shah, adding that the people must be told they their choice in the next election is simple – “between PM Modi who did not take a single holiday in 23 years as head of the Gujarat and then the national government and Rahul Gandhi who vacations for three months every year.”