An Amit Shah Theory Behind Opposition Bloc's INDIA Name

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that the Opposition named its alliance INDIA as the old name United Progressive Alliance  (UPA) was associated with scams and corruption.

"They have made a new alliance with a new name. They worked with the name of UPA and indulged in corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crores. Lalu Yadav did corruption worth crores while he was the Railway Minister. They changed their name because they could not come back with the name UPA, hence they had to come up with INDIA Alliance," Mr Shah said at a public meeting in Bihar's Jhanjharpur.

"People of this alliance disrespect Ramcharitmanas. They cancel holidays on Rakshandhan and Janmashtami. They link Sanatana Dharma to a number of diseases. All they can do is appeasement," he added.

Mr Shah also thanked the people for standing against the decision of the Nitish Kumar-led government over the cancellation of holidays on Rakshabandhan and Janmashtami in Bihar. 

"A few days ago, the Lalu-Nitish government declared that there would be no holidays for Rakshabandhan and Janmashtami in Bihar. I want to thank the people of Bihar for standing against this decision of the Lalu-Nitish government," he said.

Earlier, the Bihar secondary education department announced the reduction of holidays for teachers from 23 to 11 days annually, leading to a furore among teachers in the state. Faced with backlash, the state government later withdrew its order.

A circular issued by the Director of Secondary Education said, "The holiday table issued for government/government-aided elementary and secondary/higher secondary schools under departmental order memorandum no. 2112 dated 29.08.2023 is cancelled with immediate effect."

This is Amit Shah's sixth visit to the state in one year since his party was ousted from power in the state in August 2022. In February this year, he visited Valmikinagar and Patna and addressed Kisan Samagam organised on the occasion of the birth anniversary of peasant leader Sahajanand Saraswati in Patna, in a bid to woo the Bhumihar community. 

On April 2, 2023, Amit Shah visited the state for the fourth time, addressed a public meeting in Nawada and cancelled the programme of Rohtas (Sasaram) in view of violence in the area.

Last time, Amit Shah arrived in Bihar on June 29 and addressed a mega-rally at Lakhisarai in Munger Lok Sabha constituency which is the home turf of Janata Dal (United) (JDU) President and Lok Sabha MP Lalan Singh.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)