“During the debates in Parliament after the revocation of article 370, the opposition said that there would be a bloodbath in the state’s travail. We have not only stopped the bloodshed, but also the stone throwing and protests. Over 1.8 crore tourists visited J&K last year” Shah he said at an event marking 50 years of the Nagpur edition of Lokmat.
Targeting Rahul Gandhi, the Union Minister said the Congressman had called for the removal of AFSPA (the 1958 law giving special powers to soldiers during counter-insurgency/terrorism operations), “but the we said that until peace prevails in the NE region, we will not do it.”
BJP has no competition in Lok Sabha polls 2024: Amit Shah
“Now, we’ve removed its provisions from 60 percent of those areas after we’ve achieved our goal,” Shah said.
The Home Minister said the Modi government may take tough decisions like repealing Article 370 in 2019 to bring peace to J&K because it has never believed in the vote bank policy. “Hurriyat leaders used to dictate terms. Now, we have sealed their fate,” Shah said, saying J&K has received as much investment in the past three years as the total of Rs 12,000 crore in 70 years since 1947.
Praising Modi’s initiative to celebrate 75 years of independence, Shah said the prime minister did not limit the event to government offices but ensured the attendance of 130 million Indians. “He set three goals for citizens. “Our next generation including our children, adolescents and youth should be given proper information about India’s freedom struggle and how our legends sacrificed their lives. From 1857 to 1947, which is a 90-year period,” Shah said.
Amit Shah: ‘No competition for BJP in 2024’
Shah said there was a saying about the British that the sun never set on their kingdom. “India began to set the sun and from then on the mighty British kingdom began to shrink. It is the same country that has ruled us for over 150 years. Today we have supplanted them to become the fifth largest economy in the world. We’ve made great strides in industries like space, solar, startups, education, defense, manufacturing, and more. We did it without any arrogance,” Shah said.
Admitting that India’s health infrastructure was in bad shape during the pandemic, the former BJP chairman said the government declared a lockdown, but India soon joined the vaccine makers club with the help of its scientists.
“We administered 130 crore doses and people received certificates instantly on their mobiles. In the United States, their citizens had to wait six months for certificates. Even though the whole world is facing recession, India is out of it due to its good economic policies. People all over the world are still in awe of how PM Ways it has secured grain for over 80 crore people for two years during the pandemic. We have never made populist decisions, but we have stood firm for the welfare of the people. It’s not easy to go against the tide, but people voted for us twice,” Shah said.
