Lok Sabha elections 2024: There will be 'jungle raj' in country if INDIA bloc comes to power, says Amit Shah

Amit Shah. File pic

Amid ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday alleged that there will be "jungle raj" in the country if INDIA bloc partners - Congress and RJD - are voted to power. He also claimed that the cash recovery in Jharkhand proves leaders of the opposition alliance are corrupt, reported news agency PTI.

Addressing a Lok Sabha elections 2024 rally in favour of BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in Bihar's Samastipur district, Shah said, "This is not the first time" earlier Rs 350 crore was recovered from the house of a Congress MP in Jharkhand, and now the recovery of more than Rs 30 crore", reported PTI.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday claimed to have recovered a huge amount of "unaccounted" cash during searches at the premises of a domestic help allegedly linked to the secretary of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam.

"If they (INDIA bloc partners Congress and RJD) come to power, there will be a complete 'jungle raj' in the country as well as in Bihar," Shah asserted, reported PTI.

"I must tell you the NDA government will not allow the loot of public money by corrupt leaders. Central agencies will do their work and put those indulging in corrupt practices behind bars," he said, reported PTI.

Shah also took a jibe at the opposition for not having put forth a prime ministerial candidate.

"The country has decided to give Modi ji (Narendra Modi) a third term. But, can you tell me who will be the PM face of the INDIA bloc? Will Sharad Pawar be the prime minister? Will Mamata Banerjee become (the PM) or M K Stalin or Uddhav Thackeray? I will take another name, please don't laugh. Can Rahul baba (Rahul Gandhi) become the PM?" the home minister said, reported PTI.

The opposition, he said, has decided to "rotate the PM's term" among their leaders. "This is not about running a grocery shop. If a situation like a pandemic (Covid) arises, can they save the country? Will they be able to save the country from terrorists? These people can only spread lies, like they are doing about reservation quota and other issues," Shah said.

The NDA government will not allow Congress and its alliance partners to give reservations on the basis of religion, which is unconstitutional, the senior BJP leader said, reported PTI.

"I assure you that if we form government in Karnataka and Telangana, we will end the reservations given to Muslims from the quota of backward classes. We will not tolerate this politics of appeasement," he asserted. Shah also alleged that the Congress was never in support of reservations for OBCs, reported PTI.

"It is PM Modi who has been working for the welfare of backward classes. The Congress government had delayed the report of the Kakasaheb Kalelkar Commission, which was set up to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes," he said.

The grand old party was not even in favour of implementing the Mandal Commission report about reservations for OBCs, he said. Shah said the Congress and RJD were against the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, too, reported PTI.

"Invitations for the consecration ceremony were sent to Congress and RJD leaders, but they did not come" because of their vote bank. Everyone knows it," the home minister said.

(With inputs from PTI)