Amit Shah trolls Rahul Gandhi, says 'Take off Italian glasses to see vikas in India'

|HT|

Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi as he addressed an event in Arunachal Pradesh where he shared the stage with chief minister Pema Khandu. “Often, our friends in Congress ask - ‘It’s been eight years. What has the Modi government done?’ But people in Arunachal, please tell me, if somebody is awake with eyes shut, can he see vikas (development)?”“These people in Congress are trying to find development with their eyes shut. Rahul Baba, please open your eyes and take off the Italian glasses and wear Indian glasses. And then you would be able to see what has happened in eight years. In all these years, we have strengthened tourism and law and order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pema Khandu have done what has not happened in 50 years,” Shah said. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul’s mother, was born in Italy; and the Italian reference has often been used by the BJP to accuse the leaders of being disconnected with ground realities in India.

“PM Modi has visited the northeast region multiple times during his tenure and gave directions to the ministers to do the same,” Amit Shah underlined. “This is the 14th time I am visiting,” he said. “You can estimate the kind of priority that’s being given to the region.” Across northeast, over 9,000 rebels have dropped weapons “to join the mainstream” between 2019 and 2022, the home minister stressed, highlighting the central government’s efforts.

“The northeast - that once was in headlines due to violence and terrorism - is today in spotlight due to culture and diversity,” Shah insisted. “We were also able to end the decades-old conflict between Assam and Arunachal. I want to congratulate both the chief ministers that Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma played the role of the big brother to end the row.”

Amit Shah’s comments on Rahul Gandhi come a day after several BJP leaders lashed out at the 50-year-old former Congress chief over his comments made at a London event. “He keeps making such comments frequently and it will not be wrong to say that this amounts to betraying the country,” BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, calling him “part-time, immature, unsuccessful leader of a hopeless Congress” who has often spoken negatively about the country in foreign places like the US, the UK and Singapore. At the London event, after Gandhi said the European bureaucrats had told him that the Indian diplomats were “telling us what...orders they’re getting” and there was “no conversation” between the two sides, foreign minister S Jaishankar tweeted: “Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has changed. Yes, they follow the orders of the Government. Yes, they counter the arguments of others. No, it’s not called Arrogance. It is called Confidence. And it is called defending the National Interest.”

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