Inaugurating "anupam smart schools" in Ahmedabad on Sunday, union home minister Amit Shah warned people against political parties "who put on new robes five months before the polls and seek votes with a gift of promises."
Without naming Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which has been announcing a series of pre-poll promises including free electricity, Shah said that getting influenced with such campaigns will ruin the development of Gujarat carried out under the leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Bhupendra Patel.
Taking a dig at Congress party, the union home minister reminded people of old days and said, "During Congress rule, the drop out ratio in schools was 37 per cent, which was brought to zero under Narendrabhai's leadership." He said that during Congress rule "communal riots and curfew were common. In a year, 200 days used to be under curfew. Under Narendrabhai's rule, curfew became a matter of the past. Today's children wouldn't know what curfew means."
Shah said, "There are two kinds of people. There are those who contest polls through a political party by sweating and rendering public service for five years. There is another set of people who put on new cloths five months before the polls and come up with promises of gifts. But, people of Gujarat understand the difference very well."
Meanwhile, Gujarat AAP's chief Gopal Italia took a swipe at inauguration of four "smart schools" and said that it was a "result of Kejriwal's magic that every politician has started to go to schools. There is no problem with making good schools but these are copycats. The real schools are in Delhi."
Shah inaugurated four schools in Thaltej, Ghatlodia, Naranpura and Gandhinagar shala-2, all fell under his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. The schools are part of an initiative by Ahmedabad Municipal School Board which has plans for making such "smart schools" in each ward. The board stated in a release that by the end of the year, 83 such schools will be functional. The initiative was started in 2019.
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