Amit Shah slams Congress in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh visit

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday attacked the Congress, slamming the Opposition for considering Himachal Pradesh as a tourist spot for the party.

“They speak of 'rivaaj', we’ve broken that 'rivaaj' in Uttarakhand,” said Shah at a rally at Baral in Mandi’s Sundernagar. On the first day of his two-day tour, Shah held two more rallies — one at Chamba’s Sihunta and at Kasumpti’s Bhattakafur.

At Kasumpti, he questioned the government on the lack of development there. “The Congress has been representing this seat for the last 20 years. What have they done to bring development here? Only the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be able to turn it around,” Shah said.

On the second day of his tour, Shah is scheduled to hold rallies at Nadaun, Dharamshala and Nadaun.

Party leaders said that Shah’s visit to the state was aimed at taking stock of the situation of the preparations in the swing state where it is battling incumbency to come back to power.

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Shah also held meetings with state leaders at Shimla late evening, taking stock of the situation after some leaders turned rebels. Sources sitting at the meeting told DH that apart from seeking a feedback of how the party was faring, Shah also told them that the campaign should move to the next phase now.

“He told the leaders that the campaign should now pick up pace and we need to be more aggressive and vocal,” a source told DH.

Shah also paid key attention to the trifecta of BJP’s booth set-up, which includes the booth in-charge, a booth president, as well as booth workers, and said that the party now needs to focus on them.

The BJP is facing some heat from its rebels, after it denied tickets to 11 legislators. While the party could pacify several rebels, some chose to fight as independent candidates. On Monday, the party expelled five members, including former state president Kirpal Parmar (Fatehpur) and four MLAs, including Tejwant Singh Negi (Kinnaur), Kishori Lal (Aani), Manohar Dhiman (Indora) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh). On Tuesday, the party ousted vice-president Ram Singh. All of these leaders are fighting as independents.

Shah’s visit to the Kasumpti seat for a rally was aimed at pacifying Shimla (Urban) MLA Suresh Bharadwaj, who has been fielded from Kasumpti. At the rally, he said that during the time of ticket distribution, Bharadwaj’s name was suggested for the Kasumpti seat.

“He did not question the party’s directive and started work in the Kasumpti seat. Now it is the central leadership’s responsibility to ensure that he wins from this seat,” Shah said.