Lok Sabha polls 2024: BJP will neither remove reservation nor allow Congress to do so, says Amit Shah

Korba: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will neither remove reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs, nor will it allow the Congress to do so.

He also alleged that the Congress' formula was to speak lies loudly, publicly and repetitively, and advised party president Mallikarjun Kharge not to speak lies for a family as eventually he will be blamed for its loss in the Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a rally in Katghora town of Chhattisgarh's Korba district to campaign for Saroj Pandey, BJP candidate from the Korba Lok Sabha seat, Shah accused the grand old party of nurturing terrorism and Naxalism to win elections.

"Congress party has one formula - speak lies loudly, publicly and keep repeating it. They say if (PM Narendra) Modi ji gets majority for the third term, he will scrap reservation. They circulated my fake video. We have been in power for 10 years, Modi ji didn't remove reservation, nor will he do it," Shah said.

"Modi ji used majority to scrap Article 370 and triple talaq, construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and introducing Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Neither shall we remove reservation nor allow Congress to do so. It is a guarantee of Mod ji," he said.

Targeting Congress president Kharge, Shah said, "Kharge ji, why do you lie for a family? After facing defeat on June 4, you will be blamed for it."

"Kharge ji, you don't know they do not belong to anyone...As the Congress will suffer defeat on June 4, the brother-sister duo will remain safe, but 80-year-old Kharge ji will be blamed," he added.

Shah said if Modi becomes the PM for the third straight term, then Naxalism will be uprooted in two years in Chhattisgarh.

Targeting the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led government in Chhattisgarh, he said, "The Bhupesh Kakka government encouraged Naxalism, but after the BJP came to power in the state under Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and Deputy CM Vijay Sharma (who also hold Home portfolio), 95 Naxalites were eliminated in four months...."

PM Modi eliminated Naxalism from Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pardesh, Maharashtra in five years, but Chhattisgarh was left as the Baghel-led government was in power, he said.

"Our security forces showed bravery and killed 29 Naxalites recently and yesterday (Tuesday) killed 10 Naxalites. But Bhupesh Kakka calls it a fake encounter despite Naxalites having accepted that they had suffered a huge loss. Congress people are not ashamed. Congress has been nurturing terrorism and Naxalism in this country for years to win elections," he claimed.

Voting for the Korba Lok Sabha seat will be held on May 7.