Azamgarh: On the eve of Narendra Modi’s high-voltage UP campaign, Amit Shah sparked a fresh controversy by calling Azamgarh a “base of terrorists”.
Campaigning in Azamgarh, he said, “They have turned Azamgarh, land of the brave, into a base of terrorists as there is no fear of the government, which is advocating their release.”
Shah, who is in charge of Modi’s campaigning in UP, said, “The accused in the Gujarat bomb blasts were from Azamgarh… Being the then Home minister there (Gujarat), I got the accused arrested. Since then not a single terror act has taken place in Gujarat.”
Reacting strongly, the Samajwadi Party demanded that the Election Commission immediately take cognizance of Shah’s comments and act against him. “Such a remark is an insult to Azamgarh. BJP wants to win the elections by communalising the atmosphere. The EC should immediately take cognizance of Shah’s remark and take action against him.â€
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh too demanded that the Election Commission take action against Shah. Attacking Mr Shah in a series of tweets, Singh said, Azamgarh has been a symbol of Hindu Muslim amity. It didn’t have any riots in 47 and 92 post-Babri Masjid demolition…I strongly condemn Amit Shah’s statement about Azamgarh. Election Commission must take action.”
He also tweeted, “Modi/Amit Shah have come back to Communal Campaign from Development. They have forgotten involvement of Sanghi activists in Modasa Bomb Blast…Modasa is in Gujarat.”
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