BJP President Amit Shah. BJP President Amit Shah.

BJP president Amit Shah claimed here on Friday that the Congress was never a party based on principles, it was merely a “special purpose vehicle” to secure freedom. And Mahatma Gandhi, a “bahut chatur baniya,” could presage the bleak future of the party. In contrast, because the BJP was a party which was clear in its approach, Shah said, it had no hesitation in saying “jo deshdrohi naare lagayega, woh deshdrohi kahlaya jayega.” Shah was speaking to a collection of “eminent persons” of Chhattisgarh, on the second day of his three-day trip to the state, with a view to strengthening the party before elections in late 2018.

Saying that the Congress was an instrument to get independence, and that people from all ideologies, left and right, socialist and Communist, were part of its pre-independence movement, Shah said, “Congress kisi ek vichaar dhaara ke adhaar par, kisi ek siddhant ke adhaar par bani hui party hi nahi hai, woh azadi prapt karne ka ek special purpose vehicle hai, azadi prapt karne ka ek saadhan tha. Aur isi liye Mahatma Gandhi ne durandesi ke saath, bahut chatur baniya tha woh, usko maloom tha aage kya hone waala hai, usne azadi ke baad turant kaha tha, Congress ko bikher dena chahiye. Mahatma Gandhi ne nahi kiya, lekin ab kuch log usko bikherne ka kaam samapt kar rahe hain. Isliye hi kaha tha Mahatma Gandhi ne, kyunki Congress ki koi ideology hi nahi thi, siddhanto ke aadhar par bani hui party hi nahi thi. Desh chalaane ke, sarkar chalaane ke koi siddhant hi nahi the. (The Congress is not a party based on one ideology or one principle, it is a special purpose vehicle to gain independence…this is why Mahatma Gandhi with foresight, he was a very clever baniya, he knew what was going to happen, he said immediately after independence that the Congress should be dissolved. He didn’t do it, but some people are now completing the job of dissolving it. He had said this because the Congress had no ideology, was not formed based on a principle, and did not have any principle to run the country or government,” he said. Also read | Congress slams Amit Shah for ‘insulting’ Mahatma Gandhi, freedom struggle; demands apology. Click here.

WATCH Amit Shah speak about Mahatma Gandhi at 32:40 to 32:50

Shah said that “clarity of thought” helped (the BJP) take firm stances on issues.

“They (the Congress) think someone will say this, someone will say that. But we have no confusion. We are clear. Agar koi desh drohi naare lagayega, wo deshdrohi kahlaya jayega,” he said. Shah said that only two parties, BJP and CPI(M), out of the 1650 political organisations in India, have inner democracy. He said that it was clear that if Congress president Sonia Gandhi stepped away, Rahul Gandhi would take over as Congress president but nobody could predict who the next BJP president would be.

Shah applauded the Raman Singh government, praising the state for emerging from the “BIMARU” tag and said that a fourth term for the party in the state was in the offing.

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