The BJP will win more than 300 seats in the upcoming general elections and Narendra Modi would secure a third consecutive term as the Prime Minister, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday. Launching a scathing attack on Congress, he said the grand old party would struggle to even maintain its current number of seats in the Lok Sabha.
Addressing a public meeting o commemorate the distribution of 44,703 appointment letters to successful candidates for Assam government jobs, the senior BJP leader said the Congress has adopted a “negative attitude” and criticised it for engaging in political games by boycotting the scheduled inauguration of the new Parliament building.
“Narendra Modi will become the PM again next year with over 300 seats. The Congress has lost the opposition party status and will not be able to even secure the number of seats it has presently in the Lok Sabha,” he said.
“The Congress has a negative attitude. The PM will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 but the Congress is doing politics by boycotting it, giving an excuse that the President should inaugurate it,” he said.
The statement comes after the opposition has strongly objected to the decision of having Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate the building, alleging that it undermines the esteemed constitutional role of the President of India, which they consider an act of disrespect.
This matter has evolved into a significant political controversy, intensifying tensions between the ruling and opposition parties.
The inauguration event has been boycotted by 21 opposition parties who have stated they find no value in a new building when the “soul of democracy has been sucked out”. Meanwhile, 25 parties – 18 NDA constituents and seven non-NDA parties will be present at Sunday’s event.
Shah defended the government’s decision regarding the Parliament opening ceremony by the Prime Minister and argued that similar instances have occurred in states governed by the Congress party and the opposition. He pointed out that in those cases, the foundation stones for new assembly buildings were laid by the respective chief ministers and prominent Congress leaders, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, rather than the governors.
“The Congress does not allow the PM to speak inside the Parliament. Indian people have given Modi the mandate to speak. Not respecting the PM is like insulting the people’s mandate,” he said.
Additionally, Shah said the BJP had made a commitment to offer one lakh government jobs in Assam prior to the 2021 assembly elections. He stated that within a span of two and a half years, 86,000 jobs have already been provided, and the remaining jobs will be given within the upcoming six months.
With inputs from News18, PTI
Prasad attributes boycott to intolerance towards Modi 