Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said his virtual rally for the people of Bihar was to bring the country together in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is not an election rally. This is a virtual rally to boost the morale of the public against the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said during the Bihar Jansamvad rally. Assembly elections in Bihar, where the BJP runs the alliance government with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), are due later this year.
“I want to salute the crores of corona warriors who are fighting against the virus by risking their lives. Health workers, police personnel and others, I want to acknowledge their contribution,” he said.
Shah listed the achievements of the Centre and cited Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, power connections for the poor, toilets, the airstrikes in retaliation to the Pulwama terror attack, triple talaq, Ram Janambhumi, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the establishment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and teh scrapping of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Watch: ‘Virtual rally will connect people to ‘self-reliant’ India’: Amit Shah
“There was a time when anybody used to enter our borders, beheaded our soldiers and Delhi’s darbar remained unaffected. Uri and Pulwama happened during our time, it was the Modi and BJP govt, we did surgical strikes and airstrike,” he said.
Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to bring changes in the lives of millions of poor people
“Many people had said Indira Gandhi had also promised to remove poverty. But Narendra Modi does what he promises.”
He took a swipe at the RJD which had opposed his virtual rally.
“Some people welcomed our today’s virtual rally by clanging ‘thalis’. I am glad they finally heard PM Modi’s appeal to show gratitude towards those fighting Covid-19,” he said.
Shah defended the Centre’s handling of the migrant crisis during the lockdown and cited the Shramik Special trains that were operated to transport stranded people.
{{/usCountry}}Shah defended the Centre’s handling of the migrant crisis during the lockdown and cited the Shramik Special trains that were operated to transport stranded people.
{{/usCountry}}He also said PM Modi had regularly been in touch with chief ministers and changed the strategies accordingly during the lockdown.
Shah hailed Modi’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Opposition leaders dismissed the Prime Minister’s efforts to unite country in fight against Covid-19 as political propaganda but nation followed his appeals,” he said.