SP-BSP pact in Uttar Pradesh poses a challenge for BJP: Amit Shah

The prime minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Odisha on Saturday to mark the completion of four years of his government

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Friday said the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) pact in Uttar Pradesh poses a challenge for his party. 

Another alliance that is proving troublesome for the Saffron party is the H D Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka, which won the floor test on Friday after BJP legislators walked out of the assembly.

In a bid to counter the opposition forces, senior Union ministers of the BJP government will showcase achievements of the Narendra Modi government during its 48-month tenure. 

The prime minister will address a rally in Odisha on Saturday to mark the completion of four years of his government, and Shah will address a press conference in New Delhi.

Shah had said the Narendra Modi government’s flagship schemes have benefited 220 million families.  

On Friday, a bullish Shah added that the BJP was sure to win Amethi or Rae Bareli, the two seats held by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He was also optimistic that in Maharashtra, the BJP will tie up the Shiv Sena to fight the 2019 polls. The BJP chief said his party will win at least 80 seats in 2019 which it could not win in the last election. “We will win seats which were not with us in the North-East, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and many other states,” he added.

On the occasion of completion of four years of the government, the BJP unveiled a new slogan ‘Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas’(clean intentions, right development). Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a presentation on the achievements of the Modi government. 

In Bengaluru, Congress party’s K R Ramesh Kumar was unanimously elected Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly after BJP candidate S Suresh Kumar pulled out of the race. Shortly before the start of the proceedings, Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership. As for the floor test, the Kumaraswamy government won it after leader of the Opposition BS Yeddyurappa criticised the “unholy” JD(S)-Congress coalition and subsequently BJP members walked out of the House. 

Kumaraswamy’s motion seeking the confidence vote was declared passed by voice vote by the new Speaker.

In his speech, Kumaraswamy accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of using its agencies like the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate against its political rivals. He alleged that “fake documents” had been created to claim he had floated a company in Malaysia and had “huge” properties there.