Amit Shah says Rahul Gandhi insulted ‘Chhathi Maiya’, will pay Bihar poll price for remarks against PM Modi

Union Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit back at Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, over his ‘dance for votes’ remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that this was not the first time that the opposition has targeted PM Modi.

Speaking to Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi at News18’s ‘Sabse Bada Dangal’ on Wednesday, Shah emphasised that every time the opposition insults the Prime Minister, the lotus (BJP’s symbol) will rise from the mud.

The home minister said, “Rahul Gandhi has not insulted PM Modi, but he has insulted Chhathi Maiya and her devotees. He will suffer the adverse consequences of this in the Bihar elections."

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This comes after Gandhi launched a staunch attack against PM Modi, alleging he would ‘do anything for votes’.

Addressing an election rally at Muzaffarpur earlier today, Gandhi accused PM Modi of ‘doing anything for votes’.

The Congress leader said, “He (PM Modi) just wants your vote. If you ask him to do a drama for votes, he will. You can make him do anything. If you tell Narendra Modi to dance, he will dance.”

In Darbhanga, Gandhi said that the Prime Minister has “nothing to do with Chhath Puja,” claiming he took a dip in his “swimming pool” rather than the River Yamuna in Delhi.

He said, “There’s no Yamuna there; there’s a pond there. Narendra Modi went to bathe in his swimming pool. He has nothing to do with the Yamuna. He has nothing to do with Chhath Puja.”
When asked about Rahul Gandhi’s “vote theft” allegations over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar, Shah alleged that the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ was carried out to protect “infiltrators.”

“He gave a presentation on Karnataka. Who has the government in Karnataka? Congress. Did they also steal votes? He carried out ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ as the infiltrators have been removed from the voter list. We are clear on this: no infiltrator should have the right to vote. They protect the infiltrators as they consider them a vote bank. Rahul, carry out as many Yatras, but the Modi government will throw out the infiltrators,” he said.

He added that people who could not prove their citizenship were removed from the electoral roll during the SIR exercise.

“People who could not provide evidence for their citizenship were removed from the voter list. They would have given proof if they were Indian citizens. Only three appeals came. If there was injustice, there would have been more appeals. This means the names removed were not Indian citizens,” he said.

SIR exercise in Bihar took place in September, leaving 7.42 crore voters in the list. Amit Shah and the BJP have been vocal on the “infiltrator” issue, backing the SIR, while the INDIA bloc has opposed the exercise.

The Election Commission has also announced the second phase of SIR in 12 States and Union Territories.
Meanwhile, politics in Bihar has heated up in the run-up to the Bihar Assembly elections, to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. The results will be announced on November 14.

With inputs from agencies