Rajgarh, April 26: Urging voters to bid a 'permanent' electoral farewell to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, Union Minister Amit Shah on Friday used a famous Urdu couplet of Fidvi Lahori and appealed to people in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh to defeat him by a record margin. He called upon voters to give a huge victory to the BJP candidate Rodmal Nagar.
"Now, it is the time to bid a permanent farewell to him (Digvijaya Singh) from politics, but I have a request to you all that do his permanent farewell, but- Aashiq Ka Janaza Hai Zara Jhoom Ke Nikle... and for this you have to ensure his defeat with a huge margin of votes. People of Rajgarh should make him sit at home," Shah said while addressing a public rally in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh.
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Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh is contesting the general elections from Rajgarh Constituency, considered his pocket borough, after a gap of 33 years. The veteran Congress leader, who represented Rajgarh in Parliament back in the 1980s and early 90s, is returning to his home turf after three decades.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Madhya Pradesh
Digvijaya Singh currently serves as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha and is a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from Bhopal but lost to BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur by over 3.6 lakh votes.
The BJP has fielded Rodmal Nagar, who won the last two parliamentary elections from the constituency in 2014 and 2019.Rajgarh will go to polls on May 7 in phase three of the seven-phased ensuing general elections. Meanwhile, Amit Shah while continuing his attack on Congress over handling the issue of Kashmir said that the party "cradled" Article 370 like an "illegitimate child in its lap for 70 years".
"Congress was cradling Article 370 like an illegitimate child. Terrorism was on the rise due to it. On August 5, 2019, PM Modi abrogated Article 370 in Kashmir," he said. He also lauded the BJP rule at the centre and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has eliminated terrorism and Naxalism from the country.
"During the previous Congress rule, terrorists from Pakistan used to carry out bomb blasts in India every day, and the Congress government used to sit silently. During the BJP government, when the terrorists from Pakistan made the mistake of creating havoc in Pulwama and Uri, within 10 days, the Indian Army entered Pakistan's territory and eliminated the terrorists by carrying out surgical strikes and air strikes. PM Narendra Modi has eliminated terrorism and Naxalism from this country," he added.