‘Press Lotus Button So Hard That…’: Amit Shah’s ‘Italy’ Jibe At Congress In Gurugram

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday took a jibe at the Congress, asking BJP supporters to press the lotus button so hard that the current is felt in Italy. “Will you make PM (Narendra) Modi's hands stronger? Will you make Manohar Lal (Khattar) ji CM again? Will you press the button with lotus symbol? Press the lotus button so hard that it is pressed in Gurugram but the current is felt in Italy,” Shah said while addressing a rally in Haryana city.

#WATCH Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Gurugram, Haryana: Will you make PM Modi's hands stronger? Will you make Manohar Lal ji CM again? Will you press the button with lotus symbol? Press the lotus button so hard that it is pressed in Gurugram but the current is felt in Italy. pic.twitter.com/gZtKasdB1v

— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2019

In Tigaon, Shah attacked the Congress over Article 370, triple talaq and the NRC, accusing it of not taking a stand on nationalism for the sake of its “vote bank”.

The Bharatiya Janata Party president repeated his assertion that every illegal migrant in the country will be sent home before the next Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

Citing the government's recent move on Article 370, Shah said terrorism will be “eliminated” from the country. Shah also targeted former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, alleging that he had usurped farm land for the son-in-law of the Gandhi family, an apparent reference to Robert Vadra.

Assembly polls will be held in BJP-run Haryana on October 21.

Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had fulfilled the long-pending wish of the people with the abrogation of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, and making Kashmir an integral part of the nation.

"Several parties came, several CMs, PMs came in the last 70 years, but nobody dared to nullify Article 370,” Shah said.

“Because of Article 370, Pakistan used to mislead the youth of Kashmir and give them weapons. During the Congress regime, such a spell of terrorism continued that over 40,000 people have become victims of terrorism from 1990 till now. But the Congress did not abrogate Article 370,” he said.

The Home Minister said Modi had sent a strong signal by nullifying Article 370, adding that that the BJP government will root out terrorism.

"We will not let any sign (‘naamo nishan’) of terrorism remain in this country,” he said.

He said the BJP, its allies and several other parties supported the abrogation of Article 370. “On the other side, the Congress opposed it.”

“It is not a new thing. Whenever there is a question of nationalism, the Congress party keeps mum (‘Congress party ko saanp soongh jaata hai’),” he charged.

“They cannot take a stand because of their vote bank,” he added.

“The Congress should make clear its stand, whether it is in favour of removal of Article 370 or not. Friends, they will not speak. Instead of the country, they like power and the vote bank,” he said.

He alleged that former prime minister Manmohan Singh kept mum “when Pakistan-sponsored terrorists beheaded our soldiers and mutilated their bodies after infiltrating into our country."

He said it was Prime Minister Modi “with a 56-inch chest” who ordered surgical and air strikes to kill terrorists in their dens in Pakistan after the Uri and Pulwama attacks in Kashmir.

Shah referred to Rahul Gandhi's remark after the surgical strike against Pakistan in 2016, when the then Congress president accused the BJP government of doing “khoon ki dalali” with the blood of soldiers.