Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 15 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday expressed confidence that BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh will defeat Rahul Gandhi in the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat and took a dig at the Congress leader, stating that he should have told people of Wayanad in Kerala that he will contest from two seats.
In an interview with ANI, Amit Shah alleged the INDIA bloc "boycotted" Ram Mandir Pran Prathishta ceremony "fearing their minority vote bank".
Targeting Rahul Gandhi, he said stature is built by the people and does not come by birth.
"Stature is built by the people of the country. It is not built by birth...What does democracy mean?...Dinesh Pratap Singh will defeat Rahul Gandhi," he said.
Amit Shah said Rahul Gandhi should have declared that he is going to contest from two Lok Sabha seats and "it is not right to hide it".
"Anyone can contest from anywhere but Rahul Gandhi should have said before elections that he is going to contest on two seats. I think from the democratic point of view, it is not right to hide it...He should have told the people of Wayanad about it and then asked them to make their choice...When you see a threat in post-poll survey, and then you come to Raebaerli, I think it is not correct..," he said.
Rahul Gandhi, who is MP from Wayanad and is re-contesting from the seat, later decided to contest from Raibareli in Uttar Pradesh, a Congress stronghold, and a seat which his mother Sonia Gandhi has won from 2004.
Rahul Gandhi lost to Union Minister Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi. He has won the seat from 2004. Raebareli will go to the polls on May 20 in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha election.
Asked about his remarks that Sonia Gandhi spent over 70 per cent of MP funds on minorities, Amit Shah said the objection was to use most of it for a particular section.
"We object to 'minority only'. Are the rest of the voters, not yours? Are you taking them for granted? It is just a small question," he said.
Shah also expressed confidence of BJP improving its tally in Uttar Pradesh, saying that the party will win more than 65 seats it won in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Asked about the opposition's "Dakshin mein BJP saaf aur Uttar mein half" retort, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the BJP party will emerge as the single largest party in the five southern states.
"I stand by my remarks. Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu - combining the seats in these five states, BJP will emerge as the single largest party," he said.
Asked if the BJP gained politically because of the construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, Amit Shah said it was not a matter of political gain or loss for the party and was a question of the trust of crores of people of the country.
"For us, there was no question of political gain or loss. From the beginning, it was a question of the trust of crores of people of the country, it was a question of faith and it was a question of devotion... Ram Temple became an issue during the elections when the Pran Pratishtha ceremony was taking place and invitations were sent to all the political parties, the entire INDI alliance boycotted the Pran Pratistha and this is my clear allegation that they did not consider it appropriate to go there due to fear of their minority vote bank," Amit Shah said.
"The entire Ghamandiya alliance (INDI Alliance) boycotted the Ram Mandir Pran Prathishta ceremony - My clear allegation is that they did this fearing their minority vote bank...On Eid, you have no issues spending, celebrating Eid with Muslim brothers, even though you aren't Muslim, but despite being Hindu you won't attend the Ram Mandir Pran Prathistha because your Muslim vote bank will be upset...what kind of politics is this?" he asked.
On Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Krishna Janmabhoomi, Amit Shah said both these cases are before the court.
"The court has also taken cognizance of it. It would not be appropriate for me to say anything on this... We decided to construct the Ram temple only after the court's decision," he said.
Asked about his remark that BJP is getting 270 seats after four phases of Lok Sabha polls, Amit Shah said he believes that elections and the results of elections have great importance.
"Whatever government is elected, it should get support from every part of the country and the government should be stable and have a full majority...I believe that the opposition, as usual, has tried to politicise our '400 paar slogan', which is their short-sightedness. Stable governments give strength to the country, help in taking decisive steps, providing welfare to the poor, crushing internal security threats like terrorism, Naxalism and in changing the country's agenda and the country's position in the world," he said.
He slammed the opposition parties for trying to mislead people over BJP's '400 paar' slogan for the party-led NDA.
"...It has been very clearly explained that if our aim was to remove reservation, we would have the majority for 10 years, but we did not do that. As far as reservation for Muslims is concerned, I am still of the opinion that there should be no reservation in this country on the basis of religion, it is not the scheme of the Constitution, the Constitution does not agree with it. Bharatiya Janata Party will not provide reservation on the basis of religion."
On the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), he said it is mentioned in the party's manifesto for Lok Sabha polls.
"This is certainly an important issue in our 'Sankalp Patra'. We will bring UCC...We also want to bring 'One Nation, One Election'. This too should be discussed. One of our important poll issues is that in the days to come, we will not allow personal laws to come," he said.
Four phases of Lok Sabha polls have been held and the voting will conclude on June 1 with results on June 4. (ANI)
