Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who recently recovered from COVID-19, talked about the upcoming Bihar elections, the Hathras rape incident, the Tanishq ad fiasco and other key issues in an exclusive interview to News18.
The home minister also sent wishes for the Shakti Parv of Navratri that started yesterday and urged people to follow government guidelines and COVID protocols during the festive season which has already kicked off in many parts of the country.
Shah On the Tanishq Ad Drama
Amit Shah warned against “over-activism” after the jewellery brand was targeted by internet trolls for releasing an ad that features inter-caste marriage.
“The roots of social harmony are very strong,” he said to News18 and added that “There have been many such attacks on it. The British tried to break this harmony, later the Congress also tried the same.”
The ad was later taken off-air after it received criticism from Hindutva and others on Twitter.
On the Hathras Situation
Shah came out in support of UP CM Yogi Adityanath to form a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to look into the incident.
Shah denied the role of the state government in any kind of mishandling of the case and blamed the police involved with the case.
“There is no denying that police reforms are the need of the hour but a rape happens in Hathras and Rajasthan at the same time, but why only the Hathras incident is played up,” he said.
On the Bihar Election
Amit Shah predicted that the NDA will win the Bihar election with a two-thirds majority and that Nitish Kumar will be elected as the chief minister.
He also offered his condolences on the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan and spoke on the issue of Chirag Paswan fighting the election independently, saying that he does not know why Chirag Paswan is not fighting with them.
“It was a tough situation for us and we still did not break the alliance. It was Chirag who finally made the announcement,” Shah said.
When questioned about Bihar’s economy and the dip in socio-economic indicators like the Human Development Index (HDI), unemployment and low literacy rate, Shah said that “it is easy to build a house on a flat piece of land but more difficult if you have been handed a 50-foot hole in the ground. It takes time to bring vikas to a state which was lagging from all directions.”
“So under whom did we become the fastest-growing economy? It is under the NDA government. Lalu gave a budget of Rs 23,000 crore, whereas now it has been increased by Rs 2 lakh crore to Rs 2,23,000 crore. This is a huge increase for the state where revenue generated is less,” he added.
On Sushant Singh Rajput’s Death
When asked whether the death of Sushant Singh Rajput had any kind of effect on the upcoming elections, Shah said that it wouldn’t have become a political issue if the Maharastra government handed the case over to the CBI in the first place.
“There were doubts right from day 1 in the case. It was the Supreme Court that handed over the case to the CBI and asked them to probe. I strongly believe that in cases of unnatural death, a proper, legal and neutral investigation must be carried out,” Shah said to News18.
When asked whether the Mumbai police was in a hurry to close the case, he said that he didn’t want to comment as the matter is still sub-judice.
On the India-China Situation
“We are trying to find a solution at the military level as well as diplomatic level. I don't want to comment much on the issue but want to reiterate what PM Modi has said on the matter.”
The Union Home Miniter emphasised that the government was aware of “every inch of our land” and that “no one can take it from us.”
He added that talks between the two nations are still on and that India is “completely aware of our rights and will protect its land at all cost.”
Shah didn’t want to comment when asked about Xi Jinping recently telling his army to be war-ready but said that the Indian army is always ready for any situation.
Shah also attacked Rahul Gandhi’s claims of China occupying 1,200 km of India’s territory and asked the former Congress president to show proof of this claim.
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