Rahul, Digvijaya declined to attend Ram temple event for sake of vote-bank: Amit Shah

Rajgarh: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday slammed senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh for declining the invitation to attend the consecration of Ram Lalla's idol in Ayodhya, saying their move was guided purely by vote-bank politics.

The BJP leader emphasised the Congress neglected the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya for nearly 70 years and it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made it a reality and paved the way for the consecration of Ram Lalla's idol on January 22.

"Do you know that why shehjada Rahul Gandhi and Diggi Raja (Digvijaya Singh) did not attend the consecration of Ram Lalla's idol at Ayodhya? Because they are afraid of their vote-bank and therefore, they should never be pardoned," he noted.

Shah was addressing a campaign rally in Khilchipur town under the Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat where sitting BJP MP Rodmal Nagar is pitted against former chief minister Digvijaya Singh of the Congress.

He asked voters never to pardon those who declined the invitation to attend the idol consecration ceremony in Ayodhya.

Shah lashed out at the Congress for continuing with Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, for a long time because of which, he said, terrorism flourished in the erstwhile state and people were unable to even hoist the national tricolour.

The home minister pointed out that the Modi government not only abrogated the contentious constitutional provision on August 5, 2019, but also ensured the tricolour flew high on the country's head (J&K).

Shah maintained the Modi government ended terrorism and Naxalism by entering into their den ('ghar me ghuskar') and conducting a surgical strike inside Pakistan post-Pulwama terror attack.

Rahul Gandhi, on advice of Singh, included in the Congress manifesto a promise that if a party-led government came to power at the Centre, it will "introduce personal law in the country," the BJP's star campaigner claimed.

Shah asked people whether controversial practices like instant triple talaq, banned by the Modi government in 2019, should be reintroduced, and criticised Singh for linking "bhagwa" (saffron) colour with terrorism.

Rajgarh along with eight other Lok Sabha seats will vote on May 7 in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections.