Exclusive: Vikas is a joke for Congress, but it's the ideology of BJP, says Amit Shah on Gujarat elections

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the number of 150, which he is expecting in Gujarat Assembly elections, is conservative. Speaking to Zee News Editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary at Game of Gujarat summit, Shah said that if the winning streak of the BJP continues, the numbers may go up to more than 160.

“In the last three years, there have been several elections, and we have got numbers since 2014 across India…if we continue the winning streak, we will get not less than 150 seats, which should ideally be more than 160,” Shah said.

The Gujarat strongman also used the opportunity to attack Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, questioning his stand on issues of development and employment.

“Rahul Gandhi is coming and talking about employment in Gujarat, and people of Amethi are coming to Gujarat for jobs,” said Amit Shah.

Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi over the issue of “vikas”, he added, “He is standing on the riverfront in Ahmedabad and talking about ‘vikas’, and is not realising that the place he is standing at was a drain during Congress rule in Gujarat. He should at least choose a better place to talk about vikas.”

Responding to a question on implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and its impact on Gujarat Assembly elections, Shah conceded that a reform of such global stature always comes with some teething problems.

He, however, added, “We fixed the issues in GST within just three months. And now GST council is looking into the issues every month.”

The BJP leader also hit out at the Congress party and its leadership over their stand on Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Hafiz Saeed, saying it was unfortunate that the opposition was using such issues for election despite the fact the India has raised the issue at highest level internationally.

He further said that “after becoming Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has done a lot for Gujarat, for example the Narmada dam issue”. “Before I was born, its foundation stone was laid by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, but only Modi ji worked on it after he became the prime minister of the country,” said Shah.

Shah also accused the Congress party of outsourcing the Gujarat Assembly elections as "they have already conceded defeat".

Referring to the issue of Patidar leaders like Hardik Patel endorsing the Congress party, he said that the "Patidars have suffered the most under Congress leadership in the past, and they must take lesson from it".

"The Congress party must furnish a plan on how they would provide reservation to the Patidar community, and the Patidars must also seek the same from them. This is just a bubble created by the Congress party," he said.

Apart from these, referring to a question over the politics and protests over Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmavati, Shah said that though he doesn't want to comment on the politics involved but asserted that there must not be any distortion of facts when a film is being made on historical subjects.