Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the Congress of “defaming” India, as he lashed out at the opposition party over its youth wing’s shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi last month.Shah claimed that Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP and Lok Sabha leader of opposition, has “started opposing India” in his opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
“Congress has tried to defame the country by removing clothes at the AI Summit. We were also in opposition, but there’s a place for it. You made the summit a platform for personal politics, while the whole world gathered to see India and invest in India,” he said at a rally in Guwahati.He added that instead of apologising, Gandhi called the protesting In Youth Congress workers “lion-hearted,” a stance he described as “irresponsible.” Shah further challenged the Congress to oppose the BJP vigorously but criticised their demonstration for “narrowing the possibilities of Indian youth on a global platform.”“He (Gandhi) is defaming India and its democracy in front of the world. You can oppose us with all your might, but you run away in Parliament. When the world comes to see India’s youth strength, you are narrowing their possibilities. India’s public will not forgive you,” the senior BJP leader remarked.Shah praised Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for making the state “self-sufficient” in healthcare.“He (Sarma) wants Assam to be a state where no patient has to go outside for treatment. Patients who previously travelled to Chennai, Mumbai, Karnataka, and Delhi for cancer treatment will now receive care closer to home,” the home minister stated.Shah inaugurated the newly constructed Pragjyotishpur Medical College & Hospital and the Golaghat and Tinsukia cancer centres in Guwahati. He also virtually laid the foundation stones for super-speciality hospitals at Diphu, Jorhat, and Barpeta Medical College & Hospitals, as well as the Swasthya Bhawan and the Abhayapuri District Hospital.The Election Commission of India willannounce the schedule for the Assam assembly elections at 4 pm. The BJP has been in power here since 2016, when it first came to power in the state.
