Nimbahera: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the Congress of sidelining Vande Mataram for “vote-bank politics” and criticised the party over an alleged incident at its headquarters involving the national song.
Addressing a gathering in Nimbahera during his Rajasthan visit, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had worked to restore the honour of Vande Mataram as the song marks its 150th year.
Shah targets Sonia Gandhi
Shah alleged that while Vande Mataram was being sung at the Congress headquarters, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi asked the party president to stop the song midway.
“Congress had forgotten Vande Mataram for the sake of vote-bank politics,” Shah said, adding that the alleged incident was an insult to the song and its legacy.
He called on Sonia Gandhi and Congress leaders to apologise to the people and to the “immortal soul” of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Shah inaugurates development projects
During his Rajasthan visit, Shah unveiled a 21-foot statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Nimbahera and inaugurated or laid the foundation stones for 944 projects worth ₹5,659 crore across 15 districts, including Chittorgarh.
He later travelled to Alwar, where he laid the foundation stone for a new Saras Dairy plant and a modernisation project for Jaipur Dairy. Shah said development projects worth ₹11,953 crore were inaugurated or launched across Rajasthan in a single day.
He also announced that Alwar Medical College would be named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
‘Congress will be wiped out’
Taking aim at former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress leaders, Shah said the party was focused on creating divisions and claimed that Congress would face a major defeat.
Shah also spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘GYAN’ vision, describing the acronym as standing for Garib (poor), Yuva (youth), Annadata (farmers) and Nari (women).
He said strengthening these four sections would be essential to achieving the goal of making India a fully developed nation by 2047.
