UP election: Those spreading terror should be uprooted from world, says Shah - Hindustan Times
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UP election: Those spreading terror should be uprooted from world, says Shah

ByHTC and Agencies, Pilibhit (up)
Feb 22, 2022 02:18 AM IST

UP election | The BJP believes in zero tolerance against terrorism, Shah said. “It is our resolve that whoever is spreading terrorism, of any religion or caste, should be uprooted from this country and the world.”

Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday criticised the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress, saying that the two parties want to weaken the country’s fight against terrorism and their leaders in the past batted for the release of people involved in acts of terror.

Union home minister Amit Shah during an election campaign for UP elections, in Pilibhit, on Monday. (PTI)
Union home minister Amit Shah during an election campaign for UP elections, in Pilibhit, on Monday. (PTI)

Shah alleged that Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, responding to a question on terrorism in an interview, said they don’t have time for such “useless talk”.

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“On one hand, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi says it is fizul ki baat (useless talk) to check terrorism. On the other, her party leader Salman Khurshid used to say that SIMI people caught for the Ahmedabad blasts are innocent and they should be released. He also defended them,” Shah said.

The remarks came days after a special court in Gujarat sentenced 38 people to death for the 2008 Ahmedabad bombings.

Shah was addressing a rally in Pilibhit in support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, ahead of the fourth phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh scheduled for February 23. The assembly elections in the most populous state are being held in seven phases, three rounds of which have been completed. The results will be declared on March 10.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, while addressing a poll rally in Hardoi, lashed out at the SP, saying that the father of one of the convicts in the Ahmedabad blasts case is an active Samajwadi Party worker.

“A Gujarat court has convicted 38 people in Ahmedabad blasts case. Of these, eight have a connection with Azamgarh. Of these eight, a convict’s father is an active Samajwadi Party worker. SP chief should give clarification and apologise before the public,” Adityanath said.

Hitting back, SP’s Azamgarh district president Havaldar Singh Yadav said: “What the BJP is saying is a lie. Now, what about relations with Asaram, Chinmayanand, and Ram Rahim, who had pictures with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders? Anand Giri, who is the main accused in the death case of Mahant Narendra Giri of Prayagraj, also has pictures with Yogi Adityanath as well as home minister Amit Shah. So these people should first look into themselves rather than making baseless allegations against their rivals. Moreover, in public life, whenever people meet each other, they do not have their character certificates pasted on their face so as to enable people to identify their background...”

On Monday, Shah alleged that Akhilesh Yadav-led SP too had promised in its manifesto to release all accused in the Sankat Mochan temple bombings in 2006 and the Lucknow blasts in 2007. “All terrorists would have been released had the Allahabad high court not intervened,” Shah claimed.

“Should such people who play with the security of the country for votes be considered for voting?” he asked, adding that the “Congress and the SP together took a vow to weaken the fight against terrorism”.

The BJP believes in zero tolerance against terrorism, Shah said. “It is our resolve that whoever is spreading terrorism, of any religion or caste, should be uprooted from this country and the world.”

While trying to woo the Sikh community in Pilibhit, Shah said the sacrifice of Sikh gurus can’t be forgotten. “We have read the history of the world. In remembrance of sahibzadas, our Prime Minister named their sacrifice day as Veer Bal Diwas,” Shah said, referring to the children of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh who were executed in the 18th century.

He also said the BJP is the true well-wisher of the poor and if the SP comes to power in the elections, “hooliganism will prevail again”.

“In the past five years, Yogi (Adityanath) has wiped out the mafia,” Shah claimed, adding that properties worth over 2,000 crore have been freed from criminals.

Interestingly, Pilibhit BJP MP Varun Gandhi, who has made remarks against the party leadership recently over various issues of farmers, was not present during Shah’s rally. Earlier also, Gandhi had skipped election rallies of Adityanath.

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