Amit Shah compares Ajmal to Kala Pahar, targets Congress for tie-up with AIUDF
Perfume baron and Lok Sabha MP Ajmal’s AIUDF has a large following among Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and had won 13 seats in 2016. The party is part of the Congress-led grand alliance of seven parties.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday compared All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal with Kala Pahar, a Muslim general of the Bengal sultanate believed to be responsible for razing Hindu temples, during his election rallies in Assam.
“Rahul Gandhi and Congress talk of protecting Assam’s ‘asmita’ (culture and identity), but on the other hand it walks hand in hand with modern day Kala Pahar Badruddin Ajmal. How will you protect Assam’s ‘asmita’?” questioned Shah at a rally in Jonai in Dhemaji district.
According to historical references, Kala Pahar is believed to have damaged the Jagannath and Konark temples in Odisha in the 16th century. It is also believed that he was responsible for damaging the Kamakhya Temple located atop Niachal Hill in Guwahati.
Perfume baron and Lok Sabha MP Ajmal’s AIUDF has a large following among Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and had won 13 seats in 2016. The party is part of the Congress-led grand alliance of seven parties. BJP is targeting Ajmal as a communal politician who would encourage infiltration from Bangladesh if it comes to power.
“If Ajmal comes to power in Assam, can infiltration end? Should we allow infiltrators to enter Assam again? Congress should be ashamed to join hands with Ajmal and his party,” Shah said.
“When there’s Congress rule in Assam, the state witnesses violence and shoot-outs. But in the past five years, there has been development. You have to choose whether you want terrorism or development,” he added.
Addressing a rally later a Majuli, the largest river island from where Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is contesting, Shah stressed how the BJP government in the state has removed illegal encroachers from Batadroba, the birthplace of 15th-16th century saint scholar Srimanta Sankardev, and Kaziranga National Park.
In his third rally of the day at Udalguri in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), Shah campaigned for candidates of United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL), which is part of the BJP-Asom Gana Parishad alliance in the state.
BJP national president JP Nadda also addressed three elections rallies at Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Biswanath Chariali districts in Assam on Monday.
Assam goes to polls in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6.
