'Mahagathbandhan' is a band of thieves, says Amit Shah in Rajasthan

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Tuesday labeled the proposed Mahagathbandhan (united opposition) a "band of thieves", saying they accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of corruption while in reality it is the Opposition that plundered the nation's wealth in the past through their corrupt governance.

Addressing an election rally here, Shah compared the 'Mahagathbandhan' to a band of 40 thieves, who were thrown out of the villages they looted by a newly-appointed 'chowkidar' (Prime Minister Modi).

"All of them united and told the villagers that the chowkidar is the thief. The villagers beat them up and banished them from the village. On the one hand, this Mahagathbandhan is a unity of those who loot wealth of the public through corrupt means. On the other hand, there is the Narendra Modi government that has safeguarded the nation," Shah said.

Shah further mounted an assault on the Congress, saying that corruption under its rule spanned from outer space to below the earth. "In space they did the 2G scam, in the skies they did the AgustaWestland helicopter scam, on land they did the Adarsh Society scam, the scam involving the purchase of submarines spread their corruption to the seas and they stole coal from below the earth. Their corruption can be seen everywhere, today they are questioning us?" Shah said.

The BJP president questioned the Congress for their lack of action when terror activities were rampant during former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government.

"During his 10-year term, intruders would enter the country from all fronts and carry out their acts of terrorism and no one used to do anything. During Modi ji's government, after terrorists killed and burnt our soldiers alive in Uri, he directed the Army to carry out surgical strikes. Our Army exacted revenge for our soldiers' deaths by carrying out that operation in Pakistan," Shah underlined.

Citing the Prime Minister Modi-led government's initiative to introduce the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam that led to over 40 lakh immigrants being recognised as immigrants, Shah said that once the BJP is re-elected to power in Rajasthan and the Centre they will cleanse the entire nation of such "illegal immigrants".

He also said that the "double engine" of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Prime Minister Modi has driven the development of the state. "During the Congress' rule, when they implemented the 13th Finance Commission, they sanctioned Rs 1,09,242 crore to the state. Prime Minister Modi, as part of the 14th Finance Commission, gave 2,63,580 crore to the state. Apart from that our government gave an extra Rs 36,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore for a petroleum refinery in the state," Shah said.

The 200-member Rajasthan Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on December 7 and counting of votes will take place on December 11.