Kolhapur: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 12 years in office is just a start and there will be BJP and NDA rule in the country for many years to come.
Shah also said Prime Minister Modi’s 12 years in office would occupy a significant place in the history of Independent India and would be inscribed in golden letters for creating a resurgent India and enhancing the country’s prestige globally.
“When the history of independent India is written, the chapter on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 12 years in office will be recorded for creating a resurgent India and for enhancing the country’s prestige across the world,” Shah said while addressing a gathering after the launch of the Goddess Ambabai temple corridor project here in Maharashtra.
At another public rally in Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur district, Shah said, “Modi’s 12 years in office is just a start. There will be BJP and NDA rule for many years to come.”
He said tasks once considered impossible had been accomplished under Modi’s leadership, citing the construction of the Ayodhya Ram temple, redevelopment of Kashi Vishwanath corridor, Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines, and works at Somnath and Kamakhya temples.
Shah said a cultural renaissance was taking place across the country under the mantra of “Vikas bhi, Virasat bhi” (development as well as heritage), and described the Ambabai temple corridor as another step in preserving India’s religious and cultural legacy.
He said the Rs 500-crore project over 28,058 square metres would transform the historic seventh-century shrine into a modern pilgrimage centre equipped with AI-based security systems, heritage galleries and a light-and-sound show.
Shah said that 41 temples in and around the Mahalaxmi temple would be conserved in consultation with the Archaeological Department. He said, “Spending Rs 1,500 crore on places where our history, religion and culture reside is not a big amount. Such places inspire the entire country.”
He said Modi had recently become the country’s longest-serving prime minister and credited him with strengthening India across sectors ranging from infrastructure and manufacturing to semiconductors, quantum engineering, software and space technology.
Recalling the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Shah said Indians once believed the moon was very far away, but Modi had taken Chandrayaan to the lunar south pole and established the ‘Shiv Shakti Point’, filling every Indian with pride.
Attacking the Congress, Shah said that when there was the UPA rule 12 years ago, bomb blasts took place frequently, but “the then PM kept mum”. However, during Modi’s time, India responded to attacks in Uri, Pulwama and Pahalgam with surgical strikes and Operation Sindoor, he said.
Indian armed forces have been modernised in the last 12 years. Once, even bullets were not made in the country, but missiles are now being manufactured locally, he said. Security agencies have controlled terrorism in Kashmir, while northeast India is calm and Naxalism has become history, he said.
He alleged that Congress never cared for farmers. Between 2004 and 2014, Congress waived farm loans worth Rs 60,000 crore. A total of Rs 4,28,000 crore has been transferred to farmers’ accounts in 22 instalments under PM Modi, he said.
The Modi government also waived Rs 46,000 crore in taxes after farmers appealed for relief from taxes on profits earned by sugar factories, he said.
Shah also announced an initiative for cooperative sugar factories that cannot install ethanol units and said a project worth Rs 1,500 crore will be set up in Kolhapur that will help the factories process their products, and profits will be sent back to them.
Referring to the BJP’s win in West Bengal polls, Shah said, “We are indebted to the people of Bengal for their trust and will repay it by identifying every infiltrator and throwing them out of the country.”
He took a jibe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, accusing him of sitting in Congress’s lap and trying to turn infiltrators into a vote bank, warning that India is not a dharmshala.
In an apparent reference to the imminent split in Sena (UBT), Shah said that earlier people had to refer to the Shinde-led faction separately, but “now no faction remains, and there is only one Shiv Sena, which is headed by Eknath Shinde”.
The Sena (UBT) is staring at a crisis as at least six Lok Sabha MPs are believed to have revolted against Thackeray and are likely to cross over to the ruling Shiv Sena.
“These Congress leaders and Uddhav ji, who is sitting in the lap of the Congress, want to survive by turning infiltrators into a vote bank. I want to tell them clearly that this country is not a dharmshala (charitable shelter). Only those who belong to this country will live here,” Shah said.
Shah was in Kolhapur to lay the foundation for the new Pradakshina Marg and for the conservation work of Parivar Devata Mandir at the Mahalaxmi temple. Shah, Fadnavis and Shinde travelled together in a car for the event.
After taking darshan of goddess Mahalaxmi with his wife, Shah inaugurated development works in the temple precincts and reviewed projects undertaken under the Western Maharashtra Temple Development Plan.
The Mahalaxmi Temple Development Master Plan is an initiative to boost Kolhapur’s cultural and spiritual identity.
It is expected to provide devotees with world-class facilities while giving a new direction to the growth of Kolhapur’s religious, cultural, and tourism sectors, officials said.
PTI