Amit Shah: Congress should be ashamed of Rahul Gandhi's visit to JNU campus

BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday attacked Congress over the JNU row, saying it should be "ashamed" of Rahul Gandhi's visit to the campus and questioned whether "anti-national slogans" can be called freedom of speech.

Addressing a meeting of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, BJP's youth wing, he said the JNU row was about the party's core issue of nationalism and invoked its Ram Janambhumi campaign to buttress his point besides its role in Goa and Hyderabad liberation movement.

"A strange atmosphere has been created. Anti-national slogans are being projected as freedom of expression... Congress should be ashamed that its vice-president goes to the campus and says these (slogans) should be heard as there is freedom of expression.

"If these slogans are freedom of expression, then what is treason?" he said seeking Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's views on whether she agrees with her son on this.

Shah asked party workers to work hard to ensure that it remains in power at the Centre for 25 years so that India could become the 'vishwaguru' as it was not possible in five years.

"In five years there could be development and high growth rate and borders could be made safe but if India has to be 'vishwaguru', then it is a must that BJP is in government for 25 years," he said.

Underlining party's Hindutva credentials, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended Ganga aarti with pride and went to Pashupatinath temple in Nepal to seek blessing.

The party wants India to have top IT and MBA professionals, who also seek their "inspiration" from Swami Vivekananda, he said

The BJP chief also made fun of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to attack Congress and hail Modi's leadership, saying Singh visited more countries than Modi but his tours made little impact.

"He would read from two pages he carried with him which were written in English. At times, he would read the speech meant for Thailand in Malaysia and the one for Malaysia in Thailand... Modiji spoke in Hindi in the UN and the whole country felt proud," Shah said.

The biggest work the Modi government has done is to make the country's borders safe, he claimed.

Invoking a number of Centre's schemes aimed at welfare of youth and farmers, he said the government has made a beginning for "miraculous" change in the country.

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BJP seals deal with AGP ahead of Assam polls

The BJP on Wednesday sealed its electoral alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) for the upcoming assembly poll in Assam, which has been ruled by the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress for the last 15 years.

Today’s announcement came after a meeting between AGP leaders and BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi. The AGP delegation was lead by party chief Atul Bora and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.

“Both BJP and AGP have decided to contest the assembly election together. This decision has been taken to oust the Congress from power in Assam,” said Sarbananda Sonowal, Assam BJP president and Union minister.

AGP chief Bora said that to form a non-Congress government in Assam, there was a need to avoid splitting the anti Congress votes

BJP sources claimed that the AGP would get at least 24 seats, while the two sides would try and avoid friendly fights on another 2-3 seats.

The BJP-AGP alliance could hurt Gogoi’s prospects as the chances of the anti-Congress votes getting split is diminished. The vote base of the two parties is almost similar, except that the BJP has made significant inroads in the state’s tea garden areas and also enjoys the support of the Bengali Hindus in some pockets. The AGP’s vote bank is in rural Assam, mainly in the Brahmaputra valley.

Meanwhile, news of the BJP leaderships’ decision to go with the AGP triggered protests in Assam as workers of the saffron party ransacked party offices at many places in the state.

In Bongaigaon, BJP workers shouted slogans against the central leadership and ransacked the party office, later setting it ablaze. In Sivasagar and Sonitpur districts, BJP workers protested by ransacking the party’s office at Amguri and Tezpur respectively.

The AGP leaderships also faced flak for the electoral alliance with the BJP. In Nalbari town in lower Assam, AGP workers staged a protest against the decision. Earlier this week, AGP vice-president Durga Das Boro had resigned in protest against the alliance moves and joined the Congress.

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Clarify if anti-India slogans should be tolerated: Amit Shah to Rahul Gandhi

Raising the pitch on the JNU issue, BJP chief Amit Shah on Wednesday said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders should clarify in Parliament if "anti-national" slogans should be tolerated in the name of freedom of speech.

Attacking Rahul Gandhi, who had joined the agitating JNU students, Shah alleged that he was supporting the forces dividing the country for "votebank politics".

"Today debate is being held in the Parliament whether raising anti-national slogans should be tolerated in the name of freedom of speech or not.

"I specially want to ask Congress and its workers whether those raising slogans like 'Afzal Guru tere hatrayre zinda hain' and 'Bharat ke tukde honge' were traitors or not," Shah said at a public meeting at the unveiling of the statue of 11th century king of Shravasti, Raja Suheldeo. 

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