Congress-SP combine wiped out in first phase Amit Shah in Mathura

     Mathura, Apr 20 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday claimed that Congress-SP combine was wiped out in the first phase of polling as he took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, calling them "princes."
     Polling in Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina (reserved), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit seats was held on Friday.
     Addressing an election rally in support of BJP candidate Hema Malini here in Vrindavan, Shah said, "Let me tell you the result of the first phase, don't tell it to anyone, I will tell you - Congress, SP have been wiped out in the first phase."
     Earlier in the day in an election meeting in Meerut, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the atmosphere had changed in the state and that people had rejected the BJP after the first day of polling.
     The SP chief and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi shared the dias addressing the first joint election meeting Amroha on Saturday.
     Shah in his turn said, "On the one hand, there is the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, which are involved in scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crores and on the other hand, there is Narendra Modi, who despite being a chief minister for 23 years, is not guilty of corruption of even a penny."
     He added, "There are two camps. On one side is our leader Narendra Modi who was born in a poor family and on the other side is Rahul Baba who was born with a silver spoon. You have to decide between the two."
     Taking a jibe at the Rahul and Akhilesh, Shah said, "In 2017, two princes had come together … They have come together in 2024 as well, (but) BJP will win maximum seats in Uttar Pradesh."
     In 2017, Congress and SP contested the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in an alliance, which faced the rout, as the BJP and allies won 325 seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
     "On one hand, there is Rahul Baba, who takes a holiday abroad on a private island in Thailand as soon as summer arrives, and on the other is Narendra Modi, who does not take leave even on the day of Diwali. You have to decide between these two," Shah said in the rally.
     Shah also claimed that in 2014, before BJP came to power, people were migrating from western Uttar Pradesh. "SP goons were harassing people. Then you formed Yogi ji's government in 2017 and now the same goons are fleeing."
     Giving credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and removal of Article 370 in Kashmir, he alleged, "When the consecration ceremony was taking place, Congress and SP were invited. But to appease their vote bank, they did not go for the 'pran pratishtha' in Ayodhya."
     "Modi ji abolished Article 370 on August 5, 2019 and linked Kashmir with India forever," he added.
     The BJP leader also attacked the UPA-I and II, saying the alliance's tenure was marred with frequent terror attacks.
     "Sonia-Manmohan's rule continued for 10 years, every day, 'Alia, Malia, Jamalia' used to come from Pakistan, do bomb blasts and go away, but no one used to utter a word.
     "In 2014, the people of Western UP made Modi ji the Prime Minister and when Pakistani terrorists attacked Uri and Pulwama, within 10 days Modi ji entered Pakistan and carried out a surgical strike and air strikes and eliminated the terrorists," he said.
     Shah said when Congress left power, the Indian economy was in shambles, and it was left for the BJP to turn that around. "Manmohan Singh had left our economy at number 11, Modi ji worked to bring it to number five."
     He said Modi honoured the farmers of Uttar Pradesh and Mathura by giving Bharat Ratna to former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.
     National Democratic Alliance constituent Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary, who is also Charan Singh's grandson, shared the stage with Shah at the meeting and appealed to vote for Hema Malini.
     Shah claimed that during the pandemic, Rahul derided the Covid vaccine by calling it "Modi vaccine."
     "But, one night, Rahul Baba also secretly got the vaccine… Rahul Baba, You should be ashamed of yourself doing politics during a pandemic like Corona," he said.
     In the second phase on April 26, voting will be held in Mathura, Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, and Aligarh.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)