Union Home Minister Amit Shah came down heavily on the Congress on Friday, 24 March, when he said: “The Grand Old Party is degenerating across the country, and has now set its eyes on Karnataka to make the state its ATM and fill its coffers at the national level.”
Shah was addressing people after laying the foundation stone for projects worth ₹1,400 crore at Kengeri in Bengaluru on Friday, as part of his one-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka.
Earlier in the day, Shah chaired a breakfast meeting with BJP parliamentary board member B S Yediyurappa, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, who is in charge of Karnataka’s BJP unit, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, and other party leaders at the former chief minister’s official residence in Bengaluru.
He also took part in a Regional Conference with Southern States and Union Territories on the Smuggling of Narcotics and National Security at a private hotel in Bengaluru.
Also read: Legislators, caste leaders quit BJP ahead of Karnataka polls
‘Congress’ corrupt eye set on Karnataka’
In his brief speech at Kengeri, Shah hit out at the Congress and appealed to the people of Karnataka not to deliver a hung verdict in the April-May Assembly polls.
Lashing out at the Congress, Shah said: “The Grand Old Party is vanishing across the country. The Congress people don’t have any state with them that can fill its’ central treasury.”
He continued: “They are looking for an ATM. They want Karnataka to become the Congress’ ATM. The Congress’ corrupt eyes are now set on Karnataka.”
He also said: “Wherever the Congress has come to power, corruption is its history. It humiliated the Dalits, Adivasis (Tribals), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and worked towards strengthening anti-national activities.”
Taking a dig at Siddaramaiah, Shah said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently imposed a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI). The Siddaramaiah government (2013-18) used to withdraw cases against the PFI.”
“Modi banned the PFI to protect the entire South India and India,” Shah reiterated that the Modi government is stressing on tightening national security.
Shah spoke about Ram Mandir being built at Ayodhya. “What Congress couldn’t do in the last seven decades, Modiji did it and laid the foundation stone for the construction of Ram Mandir. The Ram temple will soon come up at Ayodhya,” added Shah.
“PM Modi, by abrogating Article 370, has put a bridle on terrorism in the entire country. Modi’s mission is to make the entire country prosperous, and take forward every state including Karnataka,” reiterated Shah.
He exuded confidence of Karnataka’s BJP unit coming to power with full majority in the upcoming assembly polls.
CM Bommai, former CM B S Yediyurappa, Karnataka Co-Operation Minister S T Somashekar among others were present at the event.
Also read: BJP gets a taste of its own pill in poll-bound Karnataka
Shah stresses on drug-free India
“Security in the ocean needs to be strengthened as most of the narcotic drugs are shipped in Pakistan and go via Iran to Sri Lanka and Africa,” said Shah.
Addressing the regional conference on “Drug Trafficking and National Security” for southern states and Union Territories, Shah pointed out: “At least 60-70 percent of drug smuggling happens through the sea route. We need to have a top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach sparing none who are involved in drug trafficking.”
देश से ड्रग्स को ख़त्म करने के लिए मोदी सरकार के अभियान के चार प्रमुख स्तंभ हैं:
– ड्रग्स का Detection
– नेटवर्क का Destruction
– दोषियों का Detention
– नशा करने वालों का Rehabilitation#ModiGovtAgainstDrugs pic.twitter.com/as5iwZ0mTt— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 24, 2023
Stressing on putting a brake on narcotic networks, he said: “There was a need to investigate the chain of networks down below when a big fry was caught. When we catch a big fry, we need to investigate the entire chain of networks down below.”
He added: “When we catch a drug addict, we need to investigate those who supplied them. If drug addiction is not controlled, it will become an incurable ulcer in the body.”
The BJP leader continued: “We have set a goal of a drug-free India. We have the target of (becoming) a developed nation by 2047 and a $5-trillion economy in 2025. A drug-free society is the foundation to achieve these goals. All governments should join hands. We have to make the eradication of drug menace a people’s fight,” Shah sought the support of the southern state governments and union territories to make India a drug-free society.
Shah further said: Drug detection, network destruction, culprit detention and addict rehabilitation are the four pillars of the fight against narcotics. I am sorry to say that the detention of culprits is taken very lightly. We are not being stern against them. We should not take drug cases in isolation”.
“We have to deal with it sensitively. You have to fight collectively through detection of drugs, destruction of networks, detention of culprits and rehabilitation of those addicted,” the Home Minister said.
“There are strong provisions in the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act but we are not implementing them effectively. Please review it and find out how many properties of drug dealers have been confiscated, and how many of them have been jailed using these laws”, Shah urged the authorities concerned to take stringent action against the drug menace in their respective states.
Shah to visit Bidar and Raichur on 26 March
Amit Shah is expected to visit Bidar and Devadurga in the Raichur district of Karnataka on 26 March.
In Bidar, the Union home minister will inaugurate the Gorata martyrs memorial and memorial of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. He will also hoist a tricolour to be installed at a height of 103 feet in Bidar.
Then, he will head to Devadurga in Raichur. He will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development schemes. He will also inaugurate the idols of social reformer Basaveshwara, claimed the Kalaburagi’s BJP unit leaders.
