Modi, Shah should tell if they want to create Hindu nation: Gehlot

Hitting out at the prime minister and the home minister over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said if they want to make India a Hindu nation, they should openly say so.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are not concerned about the unrest in the Northeast over the recent passage of the Bill, which grants non-Muslim refugees from three countries Indian citizenship.

"There is a furore in the entire country over the manner in which the Bill was passed. Modi and Amit Shah want to suppress it by giving statements in the media," Gehlot alleged.

"The northeast is burning, protests are taking place, forces are being deployed, an IPS officer has resigned. The situation which is developing in the country is not good," Gehlot said.

"They must tell the nation what they want. If they want to create a Hindu nation then they should speak openly. It should be known what their intentions are," he told reporters here.

He said people should think it over and raise their voice against it.

"Remaining silent will create problems in the time to come," he said.

The chief minister also praised former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

"I have been saying this for the five years that if anyone can counter Modi-Shah courageously, it is Rahul Gandhi," he said.

The CM said the BJP misled and provoked people in the name of nationalism but Gandhi could counter them through issue-based politics.

Gehlot also targeted the Union government over the state of economy.

He claimed that instead of reviving the economy, the government was forcing other industrialists to counter what industrialist Rahul Bajaj had said at an event a few days ago.

He said while inflation was rising, the government was trying to divert attention from real issues.

"The public will give them a fitting reply at the right time," he said.

The chief minister again called electoral bonds a "big scandal", alleging that the move meant to divert black money.

"I have raised the issue of the funding of black money to politicians and political parties. Black money should be stopped. There should be state funding of elections and it is my demand for 15-20 years," he said.