If voted to office for a third term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will completely eliminate Naxalism from the country within two years, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Tuesday.
Shah claimed the BJP and its NDA allies are winning at least 100 seats in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections (covering 190 constituencies) which have concluded and added "BJP's chariot is moving towards achieving the target of 400-plus seats".
Addressing a poll rally in Ahmedabad city's Naroda area, Shah said before the BJP came to power at the Centre, Naxalites were "dreaming about creating a red corridor from Pashupatinath in Nepal till Tirupati" in Andhra Pradesh, but their activities are now confined to just parts of Chhattisgarh.
During the last five years, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have become free from the Naxal menace, noted the senior BJP leader.
"Naxalites still exist in some parts of Chhattisgarh. The BJP has formed a government in that state recently. Just today (Tuesday), the Chhattisgarh police eliminated nine Naxalites. Give a third term to PM Modi and I assure you that Modiji will eliminate Naxalism completely from the country in two years," declared Shah.
Referring to the BJP's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, Shah said the Modi government will provide free healthcare to every individual above 70 years of age under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.
"Those above 70 years of age, whether crorepati or roadpati (rich or poor), won't have to spend a rupee on medical treatment if PM Modi wins a third term," the Union minister told the gathering.
He underscored that though former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was an economist, he could not improve India's ranking in the world economy despite being in power for 10 years (2004-14).
"The country's economy remained on the 11th spot during Singh's ten-year tenure. It was PM Modi who turned our country into the fifth largest economy. Just give him a third term and he will take our economy to the third spot," said Shah.
He alleged that instead of functioning as a constructive opposition, the Congress always opposed pro-people projects in Gujarat, be it BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System), metro rail or Sabarmati Riverfront.
Shah addressed the rally in support of BJP candidate from the Ahmedabad-East Lok Sabha seat, Hasmukh Patel.
Voting on 25 Lok Sabha seats (BJP candidate from Surat has been elected unopposed) in Gujarat will take place on May 7 in a single phase.
Shah is the BJP candidate from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, from where he is seeking a second term.
In 2019, the BJP had won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the home state of Modi.
