Modi govt established 'politics of performance': Amit Shah slams Congress

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the Modi government has freed the country from parivarvad, corruption, appeasement and casteism, and established the "politics of performance".

He also targeted the Congress, calling it a "dynastic" and "directionless" party that cannot develop the country or work for the welfare of the poor.

Shah arrived at Rajasthan's Bikaner on a daylong visit to the state. He held a meeting of the BJP's state election committee in Bikaner in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. From Bikaner, the Union home minister went to Udaipur where he addressed a party workers' meeting.

Later in the evening, Shah met with prominent citizens in state capital Jaipur.

"Four sores -- parivarvad, corruption, appeasement, and casteism had afflicted country's democracy. Within 10 years, Modi ji ended them and established the politics of performance," Shah said addressing a gathering of intellectuals here.

"The people of the INDIA bloc want to make only their sons, daughters and family members the chief minister. What good can such people do for the country?" he said.

Shah said that the only objective of the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to make India a world leader.

"PM Modi's goal is that India should be number one in the world and guide it. The goal of Sonia (Gandhi) is to make Rahul the prime minister, Stalin's goal is to make his son the chief minister. Mulayam Singh Yadav made his son the CM, but he could not handle. Mamata (Banerjee) wants to make her nephew the CM," he said.

"Can those who do politics for their sons do any good to the country? Can they advance the poor of the country, can they do good to the farmers?" he asked.

Without taking any name, Shah said that on one hand there are leaders who spend three months of vacation in foreign countries, on the other hand, there is Modi who has not taken a leave in the last 23 years.

In an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi, the Union home minister said that those whose origin is in Italy cannot respect the traditions of India.

Shah said there used to be three hotspots in the country: Kashmir, the left wing extremism affected areas, and the Northeast.

"The situation is good today because of zero tolerance towards terrorism and extremism. From 2004 to 2014, there were 33,000 violent incidents...in the last 10 years, there have been 8,000 such incidents. Civilian deaths have reduced from 11,000 to 2,600. Modi did the work of establishing peace," he said.

Addressing BJP workers in Udaipur, Shah called the Congress a "dynastic" and "directionless" party.

"Congress party cannot develop India. It cannot provide welfare to the poor," Shah said, adding that the Modi government did several public welfare works in the last 10 years.

He also alleged that the Congress "kept the issue of Ram Temple hanging" and always questioned the BJP about when the temple would be built. "The party never had the intention that the Ram Temple be built in Ayodhya."

In Jaipur, taking a dig at the INDIA bloc, the Union home minister said the opposition has neither principles nor a leader. "Therefore, the people of the country have decided that the NDA will cross 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections."

"When I ask Congress people what the aim of their party is, they remain silent. They have neither a leader nor policies. They cannot change the future of the country," he said.

Shah said that Congress people used to laugh when Modi talked about construction of toilets.

"They (Congress) forgot that Mahatma Gandhi, the supreme leader of the Congress and the father of the nation, had cleaned toilets. That culture is not seen (in Congress) but PM Modi worked to make it an obsession," he said.

"Many people say that Modi makes promises, but he does what he says," the Union home minister said.

Shah also said that the Congress ruined India's economy.

"At the time of Manmohan Singh, India's economy was at number 11. Modi brought it from 11th to 5th position in 10 years. Give us five more years and we will reach the third position," he said.

He also highlighted the works done by the Modi government when the Congress was in power in the state.

Highlighting the achievements of the Modi government, Shah said that the Modi government in the last 10 years brought 25 crore people out of poverty, provided houses to the poor, worked to strengthen the nation, abrogated Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and made India the fifth largest economy of the world.

He said that during the Congress rule, terrorists from Pakistan used to enter India and carry out blasts but the Modi government conducted surgical and air strikes against terrorists in Pakistan.

Targeting the previous Congress government in Rajasthan, Shah said that women and Dalits were not safe and riots were frequent but now a "double-engine" government has been formed and safe environment for women and Dalits will be there and the state will be free from riots.