From triple talaq to UCC, Shah fires six queries at Rahul in Rae Bareli

Help lotus bloom and we assure you we will make Rae Bareli the number one district in the state, says Union home minister as he calls Gandhi family “liars”

Union home minister Amit Shah fired six queries at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli, urging him to clear his stand on the now-banned, instant triple talaq practice among Muslims, Uniform Civil Code, surgical strike, Ram temple, the scrapped Article 370 and PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) before he sought votes from the people of the constituency.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addresses a public meeting for Lok Sabha elections in Raebareli on Sunday (PTI)

Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Rae Bareli seat this time along with Wayanad in Kerala.

Shah also launched an attack on former Congress president Sonia Gandhi who was the Rae Bareli MP from 2004 to 2024 before moving to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

“Did you get anything from the MP development fund?” Shah asked.

“You may not have got anything, but the MP fund was indeed spent. Where did the fund go then? I will tell you. It all was spent on the vote bank. More than 70% of the MP fund was spent on the minorities,” he said.

In a no-holds-barred attack on the “Gandhi family” whom he described as “liars”, Shah repeatedly urged the people of Rae Bareli to help the BJP win.

He said: “Rahul Baba should also say if surgical strike (on Pakistan), was good or bad? That’s because he has questioned surgical strike, so I want to ask him if he supports surgical strike or not? They also talk on the Ram Temple, and I want to ask him why didn’t he accept the Ram temple inauguration invite? Then Rahul Baba should also tell the people of Rae Bareli if he backs scrapping of Article 370 or not?”

“Rahul Baba’s advisor Mani Shankar Aiyar says that Pakistan must be treated with respect as it has an atom bomb. Rae Bareli people, tell me, should we give up our claim on PoK because Pakistan has atom bomb?” As the crowd responded with a firm “no”, Shah after urging the people to be louder in their response, said: “I have come here to promise you that we aren’t afraid of atom bombs. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is part of India and nothing can change this or our claim on it.”

Then, firing his sixth query at Rahul Gandhi, he said: “Rahul Baba must clear his stand on PoK before the people of Rae Bareli.”

He said: “Brothers and sisters, this Gandhi family are experts in telling lies. Now they are saying that they will give all women ₹1 lakh. I have just come back from Telangana where in that (assembly) election Rahul Baba had said every woman would get ₹15,000. But now that the women of Telangana brought the Congress to power, they haven’t yet received even ₹1500 so far. These people are experts in making fake promises. In Chhattisgarh, they promised ₹500 per month, didn’t keep it. In Telangana, they promised loan waiver to farmers but didn’t fulfil it.”

“Now, they are telling one more lie. They are saying if you vote Modiji to power again, he will scrap quota. The people of this country gave two back-to-back majority terms of 10 years to Modiji. And in these 10 years, the quota wasn’t scrapped, and I want to tell the people of Rae Bareli of Modi’s guarantee that till the time we have even one BJP MP in Parliament, we won’t let quota of SCs/STs/OBCs be scrapped,” he further said.

He also accused the Congress of diluting quota benefits to OBCs in party-ruled Karnataka and Telangana to benefit “Muslims” and added, “I have come here to appeal to you to help (BJP’s symbol) lotus bloom from here and we will make Rae Bareli UP’s number one district. But in Rae Bareli, Dinesh Pratap is the key to development. Open Rae Bareli for BJP and we would help usher in development. We have our MLAs here and we have our governments from U.P. to Delhi. Only if you help BJP win Rae Bareli, then right from panchayat to Parliament it would be ‘lotus’ all the way.”

Targeting the Gandhi family, he said: “For years, you gave the Gandhi family a chance and there was no development. They didn’t come here in your good and bad times. I urge you to give the BJP a chance and we will take Rae Bareli to a new high. Today the entire country is chanting Modi-Modi and I have come here to urge you to join the development journey of the country. You must elect an MP, who in times of need, comes to your place instead of you running to Delhi.”

“Sister Priyanka Gandhi refers to Rae Bareli as her family and it’s true because this place has helped the family candidates win on many occasions. But I have come to ask a few questions. How many times did Soniaji or her family visit Rae Bareli since getting elected for five years from here? Ok, even if one grants that Soniaji isn’t well but then did Rahul Baba or sister Priyanaka visit you?” Amit Shah asked.

“I want to tell you that over three dozen big mishaps were reported from Rae Bareli. Like several deaths in NTPC-Unchachar boiler blast, 50 people were killed in a train accident at Bacchrawan, half-a-dozen were killed when boat capsized here and five poor women were electrocuted, five children drowned. Did the Gandhi family visit them then?” he asked.

“On one hand there is this Gandhi family and on the other hand there is our candidate Dinesh Pratap who has always been present for people’s problems,” he said.

At another rally at Hiraganj market area in Kunda assembly seat of Pratapgarh district that falls under Kaushambi parliamentary constituency, Shah invoked Lord Ram’s association with Kaushambi as the BJP leader sought a third successive term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He pointed out that Lord Ram had halted for the night at Charwa in Kaushambi while heading towards Chitrakoot and how the Ram Van Gaman Marg initiative had helped connect the district with the popular trail for pilgrims.

The BJP leader hit out at the opposition for lacking a PM candidate and wanting to become PM one after other in short durations as if “running a general merchant shop” instead of a country.

“After the first three phases of the Lok Sabha polls, Modiji has crossed 200 seats.... In the fourth phase, under Modiji’s leadership, you need to help us go past 250 as Modiji heads towards the target of over 400 seats, while the SP, BSP and Congress have been wiped out,” Shah said.

In his last rally of the day in Gonda, Shah pitched the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as a contest between those who got the Ram temple constructed versus who those ordered firing in Ayodhya in 1990.

“Gonda people are close to Ayodhya. Tell me should Ram temple have been made in Ayodhya or not?...But don’t forget that this election is between those who got Ram temple constructed vs those who ordered firing on Ram Bhakts and you will have to choose if you are among those who ordered firing on Ram Bhakts or ones who got Ram temple constructed.”

Enthused by the response, Shah said: “Remember that if you make a mistake then the two ‘shahzadas’ (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) have got a Babri lock ready for Ram Mandir. Do you want a Babri lock on Ram temple? These parties have left no stone unturned for their appeasement politics.”

“I want to tell people of Gonda that I have just come back from Rae Bareli and Rahul Baba is set to receive a crushing defeat there.”