Amit Shah sets tone for up polls at ‘azadi’ function

BJP president Amit Shah, who arrived in Kakori, Uttar Pradesh, early on Saturday to chants of “Bharat Mata ki jai”, set the tone for Assembly polls in the state by attacking the SP, the BSP and the Congress, and making a strong pitch for the party led by Narendra Modi.

After garlanding statues of the revolutionaries who had robbed a train carrying money for the British treasury in 1925, Mr Shah, while addressing party workers, said that the country has not witnessed any progress since Independence because “one family” held the reins for years and asserted that BJP alone could usher in development.

The occasion was a celebration of Independence and a precursor to the BJP’s much-hyped Tiranga Yatra that is set to begin on August 16 with party MPs and MLAs taking the tricolour to their constituencies on two-wheelers. The yatra is part the BJP’s nationwide event, Azadi 70 — Yaad Karo Qurbani, to commemorate the sacrifices of freedom fighters ahead of Independence Day.

Though the mood was celebratory, and Mr Shah began his speech by saying that he would not talk politics, he went on to do just that.

His eyes set firmly on Assembly polls due next year, he said that if the country is to progress, the development of Uttar Pradesh is essential.

“It has been 70 years since we gained Independence. But there has been no development in the country as one family was in power for 60 years. Without the development of UP, the development of the country is not possible,” he said.

“If SP or BSP come to power in UP, they will work only for a particular community and for themselves, whereas the BJP alone believes in sab ka saath, sabka vikas,” he said, and promised that if the BJP came to power in UP, there would be employment for all.

“Narendra Modi had formed the government at the Centre with the blessings of UP, and we need your blessings again. We want you to give us a chance to serve you,” Mr Shah added.