Amit Shah was addressing a rally in support of Sandeep Singh fielded from Atrauli (File)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah today targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his alleged remarks that "rivers of blood" would flow over the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and said that no one had the courage to "throw even a stone" over the decision.
Amit Shah warned the voters in Uttar Pradesh that if "mafia rule" - an apparent reference to the Samajwadi Party - comes back in the state, people will hesitate to invest in the defence corridor in Aligarh announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. "If the rule of the Samajwadi Party is brought back and the rule of the mafia returns, these industries will go (leave UP)," he said.
"He (Akhilesh Yadav) stood in front of me and said that due to the decision (revoking Article 370) 'khoon ki nadiya bahengi' (rivers of blood will flow) but Akhilesh Babu, leave that river of blood. No one had the courage to throw even a 'kankad' (stone). Narendra Modi has secured the nation now," Amit Shah said.
The Union Home Minister was addressing a rally in support of party candidate Sandeep Singh from Uttar Pradesh's Atrauli. Sandeep Singh is the grandson of former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh who had represented the constituency several times.
Amit Shah also hit out at the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress for opposing the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, due to "vote bank" politics.
"Had SP, BSP, Congress been in power, would they have ever withdrawn Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir? When Modi ji became PM for the second time, he withdrew it (Article 30). Akhilesh Yadav was against it. Why do you indulge in such vote bank politics?" he asked.
Amit Shah asserted that the general elections in 2014 and 2019 and the assembly polls in 2017 were for "changing the fortune (kismat) of Uttar Pradesh".
He said the SP and the BSP "gripped with casteist thinking" could never do any good for the state.
"During SP and BSP rule, goondas (criminals) used to harass people and the police would run away from them. But under the Yogi Adityanath regime, criminals and mafias are migrating out of the state," he said.
Amit Shah alleged that the SP, the BSP, and Congress cannot rule in a "transparent and corruption-free" manner.
"Only the BJP and lotus symbol gave corruption-free government under the leadership of PM Modi."
"If you search for the mafia, you can see it at three places in UP: in jail, outside UP and in the list of candidates of Samajwadi Party," Mr Shah said.
Accusing Akhilesh Yadav of misleading people on the Covid vaccine, Amit Shah said, "He used to say it's BJP's vaccine, I will not get it administered. He misled the people of UP and the country. He, however, out of fear got the vaccine administered himself."
"Had you all not taken the vaccine, would you be able to save yourself in the third wave? Narendra Modi secured 130 core people by getting them vaccinated," he said.