Pointing out that the ongoing LokSabha elections in India are meant to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for a third time, Union home minister Amit Shah, while filing his nomination papers from Gujarat, said that the next five years are meant to lay the foundations for a “grand Viksit Bharat”.
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Accompanied by Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, Shah filed his nomination papers from the Gandhinagar seat and said, addressing media, “It is a matter of pride that I am representing a seat that was held earlier by LK Advani and (former PM) AB Vajpayee and where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a voter... In the last five years, more than ₹22,000 crore of development work has been done in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency.”
“This election this time is to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for a third time. I appeal to voters of Gandhinagar that Modi has brought security and prosperity to the country and has rekindled hope in the lives of more than 80 crore poor people. The last 10 years were spent in filling the holes left behind by the UPA government. The coming five years will help lay the foundation of a grand Viksit Bharat,” Shah said, appealing to voters to help BJP attain the 400-plus seat target for Lok Sabha elections
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shah had won the Gandhinagar seat with a margin of 5.57 lakh votes. This time, the BJP has targeted increasing the victory margin in Gandhinagar seat to 10 lakh votes. The saffron party has been winning this seat consecutively since 1989; AB Vajpayee won from the seat in 1996 and LK Advani, who first represented Gandhinagar and won in 1991, continued to hold the seat between 1998 and 2014. Shah replaced Advani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Amit Shah addressed a string of political rallies a day before filing his nomination in Sanand, Kalol and Ahmedabad city and said that the Olympics will be held in India in 2036. “You all tell me where this (the Olympics) will be held in India?” asked Shah in Gujarati to an audience that had gathered for a political rally at Vejalpur in Ahmedabad. When the audience replied Gujarat, Shah asked, “Where in Ahmedabad will it be held?” and went on to add, “It will be held in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha.”
He told the audience to ensure a “hat trick” of victories and win all 26 Lok Sabha seats for a third consecutive time. “The people of Gujarat and the rest of India gave 10 years to Narendra Modi to rule. Didn’t terrorism end? Didn’t naxalism end? Didn’t Article 370 get abolished? Didn’t the Ram Mandir get constructed? Didn’t Triple Talaq end? Didn’t the Common Civil Code come? Didn’t Hindus, Buddhists, and Jain immigrants get citizenship under CAA? Didn’t we uproot the Congress?” asked Shah in a series of questions in Gujarati at Vejalpur. The audience present replied in the affirmative to each of these questions asked by Shah.
“All this has been done (by our government), but Narendrabhai has ensured that the country is secured,” Shah said during his speech, where he attacked the “Sonia-Manmohan government” for the terrorist incursions from Pakistan.