 "No one can derail govt's development agenda: Amit Shah")
“BJP has made its stand clear on conversions. And no one can derail the party (government) from its development agenda,” he told a press conference here.
He was replying to a question on whether the campaign by some fringe groups on the conversion issue would affect the development agenda of the government att the Centre.
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Asked repeatedly about the involvement of RSS in the matter, Shah evaded a direct reply and said, “RSS is a nationalist organisation.”
Opposition parties have been seeking to corner the government on the “ghar wapsi” campaign in parts of North India and stalled proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, demanding a statement from Prime Minister Nartendra Modi.
Shah, on a two-day visit to the city since Saturday, also said BJP’s stand on forced conversions was clear and the government was ready to bring a law to ban them.
“BJP is clear about its stand on forced conversions. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu has said in Parliament that the government is ready to bring in a law against forced conversions. Are the so called secular parties ready to support it?” he asked.
Also, Shah said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to add 600,000 new members in Tamil Nadu in the near future and aims to be a major party in the state by 2016, when the Assembly elections come up.
Meanwhile, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and former minister of state for social justice and empowerment, Napoleon, joined BJP stating he has the blessings of his leader, M K Alagiri.
“BJP is clear about its stand on forced conversions. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu has said in Parliament that the government is ready to bring in a law against forced conversions. Are the so called secular parties ready to support it?” he asked.
He dismissed suggestions his party was soft in criticising the AIADMK government in the state, as the two parties had some understanding, saying there was nothing called “indirect alliances” in politics.
“There is nothing called indirect alliance in politics. Whatever alliance we have it will be known and come in the press. Even yesterday,our BJP leaders have strongly criticised the Tamil Nadu government in the public meeting,” Shah said replying to a query.
The BJP chief said he was not criticising the Dravidian parties, but their governments based on performance.
Stating that the state was passing through a crisis, he said, “Due to the Congress-led misrule in the Centre and the bad governance of DMK and AIADMK, the state has suffered in terms of growth and development resulting in large-scale unemployment."