News Analysis India

Tag: Amit Shah

  • Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren seeks Amit Shah’s intervention for safe return of stranded people from Ukraine

    By PTI

    RANCHI: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday sought the Centre’s immediate intervention for the safe return of people who are stranded in strife-torn Ukraine.

    In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the chief minister also shared a list of persons from Jharkhand stuck in the crisis-hit country.

    The letter read, “Estimated 20,000 Indians including 18,000 students are believed to be stranded in Ukraine. My office is constantly being approached by the relatives of those persons from Jharkhand who are stuck in Ukraine during war times. They are in a state of panic and horror and compelled to move with limited stock of essential provisions to makeshift safety places like underground metro rail lines.

    “I feel we must reach out to them in this hour of crisis and make best possible efforts to evacuate them back home.”

    Soren requested the Home Minister to instruct officials concerned of the Government of India to make necessary arrangements to facilitate the quick evacuation of Jharkhand students stuck in Ukraine.

    “Till such time they could be accommodated in safe places with an adequate supply of essentials,” the letter read.

    An official with the state control room said, till 5 pm on Saturday, the Jharkhand government had managed to trace 86 students from the state stuck in Ukraine.

    “We are revising the list and a fresh one will be released by Sunday evening,” the official said.

    The chief minister had also announced that the state government would reimburse travel expenses of all Jharkhand residents who are stranded and returning on their own cost from crisis-hit Ukraine.

  • BJP’s agenda to make UP proud state once again: Amit Shah

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the agenda of the BJP is to make Uttar Pradesh a “proud state once again”.

    Taking a dig at Jawaharlal Nehru, Shah said it took a Modi government to complete an irrigation project whose foundation stone was laid by the country’s first prime minister.

    The agenda of the BJP is to once again take Uttar Pradesh to the top of the list of most prosperous, most literate states, Shah said during the “enlightened class conference’ organised by BJP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Seth here. Referring to the inauguration of multiple long-pending irrigation projects in Uttar Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, Shah said, “The Bhoomi Pujan was done by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1961 and it has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just a few days ago.”

    “It took 59 years to complete the projects, which is more than my age (57 years). Even the foundation stone of the project, which was laid back then, was lost. We have worked to get a stone named after Jawaharlal Nehru installed,” Shah said.

    The home minister cautioned that the governments running on the basis of casteism, dynasty and appeasement can never do good to Uttar Pradesh.

    Appreciating the works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Shah said the BJP government improved law and order in the state and as a result, Azam Khan, Ateeq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari were all in jail at the same time after 15 years.

    Stressing that the BJP ended “criminalisation of politics” and “politicisation of administration,” Shah said, “Today, officers take decisions according to the Constitution, laws and rules, due to which many things have been set right.” He said in the last five years, development in Uttar Pradesh was evident in health, education and infrastructure sectors with financial support from the central government.

    Targeting Samajwadi Party, Shah said a state that lacks adequate infrastructure cannot progress. “Akhilesh Yadav used to provide 24 hours electricity to Saifai and Lucknow, but the Yogi government has given enough electricity to every village and city,” he said.

    Further, Shah said the BJP government had in the last five years fixed three “big issues” in Uttar Pradesh, the Ram Janmabhoomi controversy, the temple of Kashi Vishwanath and Ma Vindhyavasini temple.

  • Will seriously look into allegations of Sikh for Justice having relations with AAP, Shah assures Channi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday assured Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi that the government has taken the matter of alleged support to the AAP by banned separatist group Sikh for Justice and asserted that no one will be allowed to play with India’s unity and integrity.

    Shah also said it is highly condemnable that to grab power some people go to the extent of joining hands with the separatists and also go to the limits of breaking Punjab and the country.

    His assurance came in reply to a letter written by Channi claiming that he had received a letter by Sikh for Justice (SFJ) which shows that the group is in constant touch with the AAP.

    Channi claimed that in the SFJ letter it was mentioned that it had given its support to AAP in the assembly elections in Punjab in 2017 and similarly in these polls too.

    The SFJ has exhorted the electorate to vote for AAP, Channi claimed. Polling for the Punjab assembly elections will be held on February 20. “I want to assure you that no one will be allowed to play with the unity and integrity of the country. The government of India has taken the matter very seriously and I myself will look into the matter deeply,” Shah said.

    He said the issue of a political party having relations and getting support from a terrorist and banned organisation is a serious matter with regard to the unity and integrity of the country. Shah said the agenda of such forces is no different from the agenda of country’s enemies.

    “This is highly condemnable that to grab power such people go to the extent of joining hands with the separatists and also go to the limits of breaking Punjab and the country,” he said.

  • Shah takes jibe at SP over Mulayam taking part in poll campaigning

    By PTI

    MAINPURI: Addressing a rally in the SP stronghold of Karhal, from where its president Akhilesh Yadav is contesting the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah took potshots at the party on Thursday for bringing veteran leader Mulayam Singh Yadav for campaigning.

    Accusing Akhilesh Yadav of indulging in dynastic politics, he said the previous SP government in Uttar Pradesh had 45 members from his family.

    “I had heard Akhilesh Yadav say on television that he would now come to Karhal only on March 10 (the day the poll results are scheduled to be announced). But he came here six days later and under this scorching sun, also had to bring Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav). When the beginning is like this, what will be the end result?” Shah asked.

    Incidentally, Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav made his first appearance in the ongoing election process on Thursday, addressing a meeting for his son Akhilesh Yadav at a distance of only about three kilometres from the venue of Shah’s rally.

    The home minister told the voters if they want the BJP to win 300 seats in Uttar Pradesh, then it can be achieved through an electoral victory in Karhal, from where the saffron party has fielded Union minister S P Singh Baghel.

    “Only one seat can do the work of 300 seats. Make the ‘kamal’ (lotus, BJP’s poll symbol) win in Karhal and the SP will be wiped out from the state,” he said.

    Shah said Baghel holds an important position in the Union council of ministers.

    “He is a big leader of the Baghels. When he joined the BJP, he did so after leaving power. We made him the president of the (party’s) OBC morcha. He contested the (Lok Sabha) election and won. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji made him a minister and there was no need for him to contest the Assembly polls. But he said he does not want Uttar Pradesh to be run by gangsters again,” he said.

    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said once again a government that works for the welfare of the poor, backward classes, Dalits and farmers has to be installed in the state and hence, Baghel has been fielded in the ongoing polls.

    Hitting out at the SP, Shah alleged that the party ruled Uttar Pradesh for a long time but did nothing for the poor, whereas, on coming to power in 2014, Modi had said the BJP government is a government for the poor and backward sections of the society and has worked in this direction since then.

    Talking about the welfare schemes initiated by the saffron party’s governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, he took a swipe at Akhilesh Yadav for initially rejecting the COVID-19 vaccines as “BJP vaccines” and then taking the jab 10 days later “out of fear”.

    “Had you not taken the vaccine going by his words, would you have been safe during the third wave (of the pandemic)?” Shah asked the gathering.

    “Modi is the son of a tea seller and understands the pain of the poor,” he said, adding that the prime minister introduced the Ayushman Bharat scheme for the health of poor people.

    “The SP describes itself as a party of the poor, but its ‘S’ means ‘sampatti ikattha’ (amassing wealth) and ‘P’ means ‘pariwarwad’ (dynasty). In its government, one family of Akhilesh Yadav had occupied 45 posts. They think only about their family, not even for their own caste (Yadavs) or the backward sections of the society,” the Union home minister said, while pointing out that Modi has given the slogan of “sabka sath, sabka vikas” for the welfare of all.

    Claiming massive improvement on the law-and-order front in Uttar Pradesh, Shah asked the gathering whether they were ever troubled by “bahubalis” (musclemen) since the BJP government came to power in the state.

    “Where is Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari? Will they remain in jail if an SP government is formed? The very next day, they will come out to see ‘gaana-bajana’ at the Saifai Mahotsav. Decide where you want to keep them. Under the government of Narendra Modi, there is no bahubali, only Bajrangbali in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

    “We have fielded SP Singh Baghel after proper thinking to ensure that the mantra of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ reaches the last man. Ensure Baghel’s victory and I guarantee that all the backward classes will get proper participation,” Shah added.

    Referring to Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati as “bua-bhatija”, he asserted that only the BJP can keep the country safe.

    Addressing another rally in neighbouring Firozabad, Shah claimed that the SP has lost the ongoing election after the first two rounds of polling itself, adding that Akhilesh Yadav follows the mantra of “collecting money and going on a vacation” while that of the BJP is using funds for the welfare of people.

  • I congratulate Delhi Police for its fair investigation of northeast Delhi riots: Amit Shah

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday lauded the Delhi Police for its “strict” and “fair” investigation in the northeast Delhi riots and said the force should lay out a road map for the next five years and also for 25 years.

    Shah, who was addressing the 75th Raising Day parade of Delhi Police said, the force not only did an “exceptional job” during the COVID-19 pandemic but also thwarted several terror attempts during the period.

    “The Delhi Police has worked hard during the northeast Delhi riots and the coronavirus pandemic. For the way the Delhi Police investigated the riot cases in a strict and fair manner and presented the rioters in court, I congratulate them,” Shah said.

    The minister said the Delhi Police faces several difficulties and being the police force of the national capital, it has several duties that include providing security to dignitaries, ensuring that various programmes happen without glitches and other law and order related matters.

    “Whenever any event happens at an international level, its repercussions are also felt in Delhi. The police also has the job of monitoring the situation here,” he said.

    Shah said the 75th birthday of the Delhi Police coincides with the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations and stressed that the force should prepare a road map for the next five years.

    “The Delhi Police has changed with the times. I urge the Delhi Police commissioner and the Union home secretary to prepare a road map for the next five years and 25 years with well-defined goals,” he said.

    Paying tribute to the 79 police personnel who lost their lives during the pandemic, he praised the efforts of the force by battling the pandemic by standing in front row.

    Recalling the Delhi police’s contribution during the pandemic, Shah said, “the police personnel attended people whose families weren’t here, took them for testing, got them hospitalised and provided oxygen cylinders to those who were in need. They even helped in performing last rites during the difficult times.”

    “The kind of work Delhi Police did will be an inspiration for the police forces across the country and will be a pathway for other state polices to follow. During the period, the force also thwarted several terror attempts,” he added.

    Shah said the newly created perception management cell would help in improving the image of the city police.

  • Bommai meets Shah in Delhi, presents compilation of his government’s achievements

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday in New Delhi and presented a handbook on the achievements of his government in the past six months.

    The chief minister also expressed gratitude to Shah for taking the time to meet and discuss various issues in the national capital with him.

    “I thank our Union Home Minister @AmitShah ji for taking the time to meet and discuss various issues at New Delhi today. Glad to have presented a compilation of the achievements of our government in the last six months,” Bommai had said in a tweet.

    He further informed that he also presented a study report of the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC) on the impact of the welfare programs of the Bommai government for the welfare of the poor.

    “Also a copy of the ISEC study that shows how our schemes and policies reach the common man and the needy,” Bommai tweeted. 

  • Attack on AIMIM chief: Shah requests Owaisi to accept Z category security

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday requested Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, to accept Z category security offered by the government after a recent attack on his car.

    Making a statement in Rajya Sabha, Shah said that a government assessment has found that Owaisi still faces security threat, but he has been informed that the Hyderabad MP has refused to take the CRPF protection.

    Shots were fired at Owaisi’s car on February 3, 2022 in Uttar Pradesh following which two persons were arrested and arms were also recovered.

    A detailed investigation is being carried out in the case and the Home Ministry had sought a report from the state government, Shah said.

    ”Through the House, I would like to request Owaisi ji to accept the security to address our concerns about his safety,” the minister said.

  • Lata Mangeshkar’s voice filled lives of every generation: Home Minister Amit Shah

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday condoled the passing away of singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, and said her mesmerising voice filled the lives of every generation not only in India but across the globe.

    Mangeshkar passed away on Sunday at a hospital in Mumbai. “Lata didi, with her melodious and mesmerising voice, has filled the lives of every generation not only in India but all over the world with the sweetness of Indian music. It is not possible to put into words her contribution to the music world. Her death is a personal loss for me,” Shah tweeted in Hindi.

    The home minister said he considered himself fortunate to have received Mangeshkar’s affection and blessings from time to time. “With her incomparable patriotism, sweet speech and gentleness, she will always be among us. I express my condolences to her family and countless fans. Om Shanti,” he said.

  • There was ‘bahubali’ in every district under SP, but it is ‘Bajrangbali’ now: Shah

    By PTI

    ALIGARH/BUDAUN: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday targeted Samajwadi Party, saying if Akhilesh Yadav becomes the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, his government will show “red light” to development and green light to “mafia and musclemen”.

    “There was ‘Bahubali’ (musclemen) in every district under the previous regime, but in the present Yogi Adityanath’s regime, there is no such mafia. There is only ‘Bajrangbali’ now,” the BJP leader said addressing election rallies.

    Referring to the BJP’s poll symbol he said, “Goddess Lakshmi entered every household with the lotus and referred to welfare measures taken by the government, especially during the Covid pandemic.”

    Shah warned the voters that if the “mafia rule” returns in Uttar Pradesh, “industries will go”. 

    “If you search for the mafia, you can see it at three places in UP – they are visible in jail, second outside UP and third you will see in the list of candidates of Samajwadi Party,” he said.

    The BJP leader also accused the SP, BSP and the Congress of opposing the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, for their “vote bank” politics.

    “Had SP, BSP, Congress been in power, would they have withdrawn Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir? When Modi ji became PM for the second time, he withdrew it (Article 30) on August 5, 2019. Akhilesh Yadav was against it. Why do you do such vote bank politics?” he said.

    “He (Akhilesh) stood in front of me and said due to the decision (revoking Article 370) ‘khoon ki nadiya bahengi’ (rivers of blood will flow) but Akhilesh Babu leave that river of blood, no one had the courage to throw even a ‘kankad’ (stone),” Shah said, asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured the nation.

    He was addressing rallies in Atrauli, Aligarh, where Sandeep Singh, former UP CM Kalyan Singh’s grandson, is the party candidate and in Badaun. 

    “Akhilesh government will show red light to development and green light to the mafia and ‘bahubali’ (musclemen)”, Shah said, asking the people whether they wanted “red-light, green-light” government.

    ALSO READ: Goons, mafia of UP have fled, are in jail or appear in Samajwadi Party’s list of candidates: Amit Shah

    The SP flag has red and green colours. “For the 15 crore people of UP, this is not only the lotus flower but also mother Lakshmi, Ma Annpurna, which came to their houses. Modi fed their children for two years,” he said.

    He said that if “mafia rule” again comes into the state, people will hesitate to invest in the defence corridor in Aligarh, announced by Prime Minister Modi in 2018. Shah asserted that the general elections in 2014 and 2019 and the assembly polls in 2017 were for “changing the fortune (kismat) of Uttar Pradesh”.

    He said the SP and the BSP “gripped with casteist thinking” could never do any good for the state.

    “During SP and BSP rule, goondas (criminals) used to harass people and police used to run away from them, but under (CM) Yogi Adityanath regime, criminals and mafias are migrating out of the state,” he said.

    Shah alleged that the SP, the BSP, and the Congress cannot rule in a “transparent and corruption-free” manner “Only the BJP and lotus symbol could give corruption-free government under the leadership of Modi,” he said Polling will be held in Atrauli on February 10 in the first phase. BJP stalwart Kalyan Singh had represented this seat many times.

    On his relations with Kalyan Singh, Shah said, “In 2013, when I was sent as the in-charge of UP, I had visited Lucknow and Varanasi. I sought time from ‘Babuji’ (Kalyan Singh), he invited me for food at home and like a father held my finger and taught me about Uttar Pradesh politics. Kalyan Singh was the person who first talked about giving the backward society its due right,” he said.

    The Union home minister said for ‘Ramjanmbhoomi’, Kalyan Singh had resigned as the chief minister and “our PM (Modi) has laid the foundation of Ram temple”.

    Shah urged the people to once again vote the Yogi Adityanath government to power and also ensure the victory of Sandeep Singh. 

    ALSO READ: UP polls: Voting for SP-RLD alliance will lead to ‘reign of terror’, cautions Amit Shah

    Alleging that Akhilesh Yadav misled the people on the Covid vaccine, Shah said, “He used to say it’s BJP’s vaccine, I will not take it.vHe misled the people of UP and the country.vHe, however, out of fear took the vaccine himself. Had you all not taken the vaccine, would you be able to save yourself in the third wave? Narendra Modi secured 130 core people by getting them vaccinated,” he said.

    Shah also hit out at Congress, saying when there was “Sonia-Manmohan” government at the Centre, anyone used to enter India from Pakistan and cut off the heads of soldiers and the prime minister at that time would not react. “‘Mauni baba’ (Manmohan Singh) used to remain silent.

    “When the Modi government came, Pakistan-sponsored terrorists did not know that the government changed. When they attacked in Uri and Pulwama, within 10 days there was a surgical strike and terrorists were eliminated inside Pakistan,” he said.

    Taking a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah said he did not know about Kharif and Rabi crops and ”if someone would tell him to talk about potato growers in Aligarh he would say he will open a potato factory here.” 

    “Can a person who does not know that a potato is grown in a field and not a factory resolve problems of farmers,” he said.

    Refuting Akhilesh Ýadav’s claim of bad law and order in the state, Shah said as compared to the previous regime, dacoity cases have been reduced by 70 percent, loot by 69 percent, murder by 29 percent, kidnapping by 35 percent, and rape by 30 percent.

    He said people like Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmad, and Mukhtar Ansari, who are seen with Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, are in jail.

  • I don’t want to be Hema Malini, says Jayant Chaudhury after Amit Shah’s invite

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Stocking a controversy by bringing the name of BJP MP and famous Bollywood actor Hema Malini into poll discourse, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary claimed that his party leader Yogesh Chaudhury was wooed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying he would make him stars like Malini if he joined the party.

    Jayant Chaudhary, who had rejected the BJP overtures last week, made the comments while campaigning in Mathura on Tuesday.

    Referring to his party leader on stage with him, Chaudhary said, “Yogesh was saying he was told by Shah that, “Yogesh, join us. I will make you like Hema Malini.”

    His audience laughed and clapped at his reference to the actor-politician who is a BJP MP from Mathura. “I don’t know what all they keep saying about me. It is not that they have any love or feeling for me. I tell them — What will you get by pleasing me? I don’t want to be Hema Malini. What will you do for the people? What have you done for the families of 700 farmers who died during protests? Why is Teni still a minister?,” the RLD leader said.

    RLD is in alliance with Samajwadi Party in the UP. The party has declared 33 RLD candidates across western UP. Jayant, who has not won any election since 2014, is believed to be having some traction among the Jat farmers’ community especially after the unrest over three contentious farm laws which the BJP repealed in November last year.

    Meanwhile, reacting to Jayant’s controversial statement, Union minister Anurag Thakur, who is also handling BJP’s Uttar Pradesh campaign, hit back at RLD chief saying that the actor-turned-Mathura MP was elected based on her capabilities, popularity and work.

    “Not once, but many times she was elected to the Parliament with the public’s blessings. It is true he cannot become Hema Malini. He does not have the people’s blessing,” Thakur said at a media briefing.

    Chaudhary lost the Mathura seat to Hema Malini in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, he fought against Satya Pal Singh and lost from Baghpat. 

    Amit Shah, at a meeting with over 250 Jat leaders in Delhi on January 26, had sent feelers to Jayant saying he had gone into the wrong family and that the BJP doors would always be open for the RLD.

    “Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary are together only till counting. If their (Samajwadi) government is formed, then Azam Khan will sit (in their government) and Jayant Bhai will be out,” Shah had said later while addressing a poll rally.