BJP has no competition in ’24: Amit Shah

TURA, FEB. 15:  The various development initiatives of the Narendra Modi government in the past eight years will see the BJP triumph in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday. The upcoming elections in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya will show where the party stands, Shah added while speaking to a news agency.

The Congress is seeking to regain the lost ground but Shah said the people in the country have not yet chosen any party as the principal opposition to the BJP. The Congress, which once ruled the entire Northeast, has got reduced to a shadow of its glorious past in the wake of the BJP’s emergence as a powerhouse, he added, talking about how the Centre  has removed the feeling of alienation among people in the Northeast and strengthened regional identity.

The stakes are high for the BJP in the three states that go to polls shortly. It will try to retain power in Tripura and Nagaland and fare well in Meghalaya. The BJP is a component of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-led “three-party” government in Nagaland and the National People’s Party-led six-party ruling coalition in Meghalaya. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi did not campaign in any of the states.

Shah exuded confidence that the BJP will secure an absolute majority in Tripura, riding on its development initiatives. He claimed that people at the grassroots level have reaped the dividends of the central government schemes.

According to Shah, when he visited a house in the state recently for a meal, the members of the family showed him the toilet, gas cylinder, electricity, tap water and their Ayushman Bharat card. He said they took pride in their plastered house.

“People are moving ahead with Modiji. I feel that the BJP will have no competition in the 2024 elections,” the home minister said. The process of militants abjuring the path of violence in the Northeast started in Assam more than a decade ago when Tarun Gogoi was the chief minister.

Several groups had come forward for peace talks while some others were disbanded. The BJP continued with it. Shah said over 8,000 members of militant outfits joined the mainstream under the Modi government. He said inviting artistes from the Northeast to all national festivals is testimony to the Centre’s effort to promote the cultural heritage.

People from the Northeast today feel respected in the country, he stressed. Talking about the Modi government, he said India has progressed across sectors. He said reducing India’s reliance on other countries by 30% in the defence sector is a big achievement.

-TNIE