Amit Shah tears into 'fake' Sena, NCP, 'half-hearted' Congress at Maha rally

Nanded, April 11 (IANS) Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Thursday taunted that the 'fake' Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, the 'fake' NCP led by Sharad Pawar and the half-hearted Congress party won't be in a position to speed up the development of Maharashtra. That would be possible only under a BJP-led NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

"There are three parties against us in Maharashtra. One is a fake Shiv Sena, another is a fake NCP, and the third is the half-hearted Congress. There is a proverb in Gujarat -- 'Teen Tigda Kaam Bigda (work gets spoilt when three get together). Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena party is half, so is the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.

"These two cut the Congress in half. Can these parties do good for Maharashtra? No. They are an autorickshaw that has three wheels but the gearbox is from Fiat, the other engine is from Mercedes. This rickshaw has no direction. Once the elections are held, this alliance will be broken by differences. On the other hand, we are all fighting under PM Modi's leadership,’’ Amit Shah said.

The Home Minister exhorted the workers to elect the party nominee Pratap Patil Chikhalikar from Nanded with a record margin saying the vote for Chikhalikar is crucial to make Modi the Prime Minister for the third time.

He also targeted Sharad Pawar claiming that during his 10-year ministerial tenure in the UPA government, he did not do much to boost the state’s development when compared with what the Modi government did in the last 10 years.

"During Pawar’s 10-year ministerial tenure, Maharashtra received only Rs 1,51,000 crore against a record Rs 7.15 lakh crore in the last 10 years. The state received Rs 3,90,000 crore for infrastructure development, Rs 75,000 crore for national highways, Rs 2,10,000 crore for railways, Rs 4,000 crore for airports, and Rs 1 lakh crore for special infrastructure projects. Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar and the Congress cannot lead Maharashtra’s development but it will be possible with the Shinde-Fadnavis combine," he noted.

Amit Shah also said that the Narendra Modi-led government has not only promoted Maharashtra’s development but the overall development of the country during its 10-year rule.

He said that the Modi-led government renamed Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv which was opposed by Sharad Pawar.

"Balasaheb Thackeray was in favour of renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad. But after they were renamed, Uddhav Thackeray had no smile on his face," he added.

The Home Minister said the Congress president says the Kashmir issue has nothing to do with Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

He also asked the gathering whether Article 370 should have been abrogated, as the crowd replied in the positive.

"The Congress handled Article 370 like an unruly baby. PM Modi abrogated Article 370 and worked to connect Kashmir with India. Terrorist attacks were happening during the tenure of Sonia-Manmohan. Modi became the Prime Minister and today Pakistan has no time to look at the country. PM Modi replied to Pakistan by entering Pakistan's territory. He sent a message to the whole world that if you look at our country and our borders, you will get the answer," he asserted.