Amit Shah asks BSP, SP, Congress to spell out stand on triple talaq

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah said the party would contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on the twin planks of women’s rights and development.

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Tuesday asked the party’s three electoral rivals – the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress – to clarify their stand on the triple talaq issue.

BJP president Amit Shah along with party leader Keshav Prasad Maurya and others at the party's Parivartan Rally in Robertsganj on Tuesday.(PTI)

Addressing a rally during the launch of the BJP’s third Parivartan Yatra at the Sonbhadra railway ground, Shah said the party would contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on the twin planks of women’s rights and development. Several issues – including triple talaq, women’s dignity, and safety – would be addressed in its quest for gender equality, he added.

“The central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made its stand clear in its response to a question by the Supreme Court recently. However, our rivals remain tongue-tied on the matter,” Shah said, demanding that the three parties file an affidavit on this regard in court.

Moving on to the one-rank one-pension (OROP) controversy, Shah told Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to refrain from “playing politics” with Army soldiers. He also asked the Amethi MP to explain why OROP wasn’t implemented while his grandmother (Indira Gandhi), father (Rajiv Gandhi) and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance were heading the country. Shah said the Modi government had resolved the OROP issue by providing `5,500 crore to ex-servicemen.

As far as development was concerned, he claimed that the BJP – if voted to power – would draw investments from all parts of the world to Uttar Pradesh.

Hitting out at the SP, Shah said its silver jubilee event last week had culminated in a tussle between “chacha” (Shivpal Singh Yadav) and “bhatija” (chief minister Akhilesh Yadav). He went on to seek Akhilesh’s resignation because he had failed to prevent the party’s merger with the Quami Ekta Dal despite his opposition to the same.

Shah also promised to “free all the land occupied by SP goons” within a month of the BJP coming to power.