Shah targets Cong over nepotism claims Bhupinder Hooda focused on making son CM

Jhajjar (Haryana), May 20 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday launched a sharp attack against the Congress over nepotism and alleged senior party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda's focus is on making his son chief minister and not on Haryana's development.
    At a poll rally here, considered a stronghold of the Hooda family, he said, "Sonia (Gandhi) wants to make her son prime minister and (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda ji wants to make his son CM."
    "Hooda's attention is focused on his son and not on Haryana's development. Can those who work for their sons work for the youth of Jhajjar?" he asked the gathering.
    Jhajjar comes under the Rohtak parliamentary constituency from where the BJP's Arvind Sharma is seeking re-election. Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Hooda's son Deepender Singh Hooda has been fielded from the seat by the Congress.
    Claiming the Congress will draw a blank in Haryana as it did in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Shah asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fight is against corruption and "parivarvaad" (nepotism).
    While the BJP-led NDA has decided that Modi is its prime ministerial candidate, no one knows who is the leader of the "gamandiya gathbandhan", he said in a swipe at the opposition INDIA bloc.
    "They have a formula of five prime ministers in five years. Can a country run like this? In this project of having five PMs in as many years, who will give a befitting reply to Pakistan? If a Covid-like crisis comes, who will save (people)? Who can send Chandrayaan (to the Moon)? The answer is clear -- Modi, Modi, Modi," he said.
    Exuding confidence that the NDA will win more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, Shah said the Congress is spreading lies that the BJP will end reservation if it gets a majority in this general elections. "Till the time the BJP has even a single MP in Parliament, no one can touch reservation."
    He claimed that while on one hand, PM Modi is protecting reservation, on the other hand, the Congress is giving reservation to Muslims and making attempts to snatch the quota of SCs, STs and OBCs.
    "In Karnataka and Telangana, Congress gave Muslims 4 per cent and 5 per cent reservation, respectively. Whose quota was lessened? Of the OBCs," the BJP leader said.
    Before addressing the poll meeting in Jhajjar, Shah attended rallies in Karnal and Hisar.
    At the rally in Karnal, Shah praised former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, saying his government stopped the "sale" of jobs. "Under the BJP's rule, jobs are given on merit. It was Khattar who made Haryana 'viksit' (developed)."
    "In Haryana, Khattar gave 12 expressways, opened 77 colleges, gave 13 universities, opened eight medical colleges, gave two new airports and opened 16 new hospitals," Shah said.
    He said after Khattar, youth leader Nayab Singh Saini is in command.
    "I want to tell the people of Karnal that we may have taken your chief minister (Khattar as CM was also MLA from Karnal), but want to assure that Karnal (assembly) will remain CM city and after the polls too," Shah said.
    Saini replaced Khattar as chief minister in March. Saini is fighting the Karnal assembly bypoll after Khattar resigned as MLA. Khattar is the BJP candidate from the Karnal Lok Sabha seat.
    Comparing the Modi government's initiatives for the farming sector with those during the Congress rule, Shah said that earlier, the agriculture budget used to be around Rs 22,000 crore.
    "The Modi government raised this budget to Rs 1.25 lakh crore. The Modi government broke all records of paddy purchases. Earlier, paddy of 76 lakh farmers used to be procured. Modi ji procured paddy of 1.22 crore farmers," Shah added.

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