Amit Shah sets eyes on state polls

With the recent defeat in the by-elections for 3 assembly seats and panchayat polls in Uttarakhand ringing alarms bells within the BJP, newly appointed BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday asked party workers to focus on building the party for future electoral challenges.

With the recent defeat in the by-elections for 3 assembly seats and panchayat polls in Uttarakhand ringing alarms bells within the BJP, newly appointed BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday asked party workers to focus on building the party for future electoral challenges.

Shah hit out at former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, a known detractor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for an alliance with RJD’s Lalu Prasad in Bihar.

“Nitish came to power by saying he was fighting against ‘jungle raj’ of Lalu Prasad. Now he has gone and sat in the lap of same Lalu. There is no shame. We need expose this immoral alliance,” Shah said.

Wanting the country to be “Congress-free”, Shah said Congress culture needs to be replaced by that of his party.

“For long Congress ‘vichar’ (thought) has been pre-dominant in the country’s politics. Now it is time to ensure that our ‘vichar’ (thought) has an imprint on nation’s politics,” Shah said.

Eyeing good electoral prospects in Jammu & Kashmir, which will go to polls later this year, Shah also hit out at the ‘two political families’ – Abdullahs of National Conference and Muftis of PDP - of the state for usurping funds meant for development.

Shah listed returning to power in Maharashtra, Haryana, J&K and Jharkhand as party’s “foremost commitment” while making every effort to win eight others — Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya — whenever elections will be held in next five years.

Shah hinted the party was exploring alliance options in Haryana and aiming at a clear majority in Jharkhand.

The BJP chief appeared worried about the state of affairs in north eastern, eastern and southern parts of the country.