Amit Shah attacks Rahul over court order in National Herald case

Mumbai: BJP president Amit Shah attacked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Sunday over a court order asking the publishers of the National Herald newspaper to vacate premises in the national capital, saying those appropriating public property should not target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shah said while Gandhi's entire family lineage was "mired in corruption", there was not a single blot on Modi. He was speaking at a booth workers' rally at Silvassa, where he also appealed to the people to give one more chance to the two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The Delhi High Court had last month asked the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publisher of National Herald, to vacate the premises in the press enclave at ITO in the national capital. In its order, the single judge had said AJL had been "hijacked" by the Young Indian (YI), in which Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi were shareholders. Shah said, "Those appropriating public property cannot target Modi. When Rahul Gandhi levels corruption charges against Modi, he should first open his eyes. His entire family lineage is mired in corruption charges and there is not a single blot on Prime Minister Modi."

Pointing out that "Rahul baba" was asking the BJP-led government for its "report card" of its four-year performance, he said, "He should first give the report card of his four generations, who ruled the country and did nothing."

The government was carrying out infrastructure projects worth around Rs 5,000 crore in this Union Territory, Shah said. "We are doing so much for people, so the opposition is trying to divert the attention of people," he said.

Throwing his weight behind the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam, where the government is planning to identify and deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants, Shah said, "Infiltrators are like termites to our country. We will neither save them, nor allow you to save them."

"The members of the 'Mahagathbandhan' (the proposed anti-BJP alliance) are opposing the NRC because they think of a vote bank and we think of the safety of our country. We will detect them, delete them (from the voters' list) and deport them," he said.