New Delhi:

Former Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday slammed the Congress and INDIA bloc for holding copies of the Constitution inside the Parliament premises, saying that Sonia Gandhi was present in the Prime Minister’s House when the decision to impose the Emergency was taken by the Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

“The day Indira Gandhi decided to impose the Emergency, Sonia Gandhi was present in the PM House. Today, she along with his son (Rahul Gandhi) is holding the Constitution copy. This is the real face of the Congress,” Mr Narottam said while addressing a programme organised by MP BJP to honour people who were imprisoned under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency.

He said that the Constitution was amended over 100 times during the Congress government in the past 70 years and now they are misleading people with fake claims.

“The INDIA bloc leaders claim to protect the Constitution but the truth is that they all are protecting the political future of their children,” he said.

He said that the BJP has decided to organise programmes, to tell the truth of Emergency to those who haven’t seen Black Day.

On Monday, in a show of strength, the opposition INDIA bloc members waved copies of the Constitution in Parliament as Prime Minister Narendra took oath as a member of the 18th Lok Sabha.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was given a shoutout by party leaders including Shashi Tharoor and her husband Robert Vadra after it was announced that she would be contesting the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, a seat previously held by his brother Rahul Gandhi.

Mr Tharoor took to X, proclaiming, “No more doubt, here comes Priyanka.” Robert Vadra echoed this sentiment by sharing the same image with folded hands and a heart emoji.

न शक रहा ना शंका
लो आ गई प्रियंका !#WelcomeToWayanad@INCIndiapic.twitter.com/B9YFMouOhP

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 18, 2024

pic.twitter.com/bI0dgvs7HT

— Robert Vadra (@irobertvadra) June 17, 2024

Since her entry into active politics in 2019, Priyanka, 52, has been seen as a potential challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, particularly from Varanasi, and as a successor to Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli. However, the Congress party has now decided to field her from Kerala’s Wayanad. Rahul Gandhi, who recently decided to vacate the Wayanad seat for Priyanka while retaining Rae Bareli, has expressed confidence in her abilities to carry forward his legacy in Kerala.

“I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad. All I’ll say is that I won’t let them feel his (Rahul’s) absence. I will work hard and try my best to make everybody happy and be a good representative,” Priyanka said.

Her candidacy is seen as a strategic move by the Congress to strengthen its position in a state where the party has performed well in recent elections.

Priyanka’s political journey has been marked by her roles as the general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh and later the entire state. Despite mixed results in the 2019 polls, she continued to bolster the party’s grassroots presence. By December 2023, she had become the Congress’ key strategist and star campaigner for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, contributing significantly to the party’s improved performance, which saw it secure 99 seats, up from 52 in 2019.

Robert Vadra, Priyanka’s husband, who had earlier shown interest in contesting from Amethi, expressed his support as she takes on this new challenge. If Priyanka wins the bypolls, it will mark the first time that three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament, with Sonia Gandhi representing Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha.

“I extend my best wishes to Mrs. @priyankagandhi ji on being declared the candidate by the Congress Party from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. I have full faith that the people of Wayanad will bless Priyanka ji wholeheartedly and will make her their voice and send her to Parliament,” Congress leader Sachin Pilot wrote.

Party leader Gaurav Gogoi said, “The voice of the people will resonate much louder with both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi present inside the Parliament.” 

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief K Sudhakaran welcomed Priyanka’s entry into Wayanad, stating, “From now on, two Gandhi voices will rise for Kerala in Parliament! Wayanad is stepping into history.” 

New Delhi:

In a post on Facebook and Instagram, the Congress leader shared a video featuring one of his interactions with his mother Sonia Gandhi, and several other women during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“Mother is a feeling beyond words — of affection, sacrifice, patience and strength. Today, on the auspicious occasion of Mother’s Day, I salute all motherly power,” he said in the post.

The video also mentioned promises to women made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha manifesto, such as the Mahalaxmi Scheme, which aims to provide Rs 1 lakh annually to “one woman from poor household”, and reserving 50 per cent of central government jobs for women starting in 2025

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Lashing out at Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and accusing them of practising the politics of appeasement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Congress matriarch cried for the terrorists who were killed in the Batla House encounter of 2008.

The PM’s attack was a reference to Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s statement from 2012 that Mrs Gandhi, who was the party chief at the time, had “wept bitterly” when she was shown images of the Batla House encounter. 

PM Modi’s statements came on a day when the Lok Sabha polls crossed its halfway mark in terms of the number of constituencies that have voted, and hours after Sonia Gandhi accused him and the BJP of promoting hatred for political gain. 

Latching on to a claim by Congress leader and Maharashtra Leader of the Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar that one of the heroes of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, former Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, was killed not by Ajmal Kasab –  the lone terrorist behind the attack who was caught alive – but a policeman affiliated to the RSS, Mr Modi said at a rally in Maharashtra’s Beed on Tuesday that the state Congress is giving a clean chit to terrorists involved in the attacks. 

“It seems the Congress is supporting all 10 terrorists, including Kasab, who came from Pakistan. The nation wants to ask what the relationship between the Congress and terrorists is called. The country has not forgotten when terrorists were welcomed into the Prime Minister’s residence during the Congress’ rule,” he said in Hindi. 

Without naming Sonia Gandhi, he continued, “The country also saw the day when the party’s biggest leader wept for terrorists killed during the Batla House encounter in Delhi. The INDI alliance, which wants to bring such days back to the country, should remember that Modi is standing in front of you like a rock. 

PM Modi claimed the INDIA alliance plans to put “mission cancel” in motion if it comes to power and will bring back Article 370, roll back the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Triple Talaq law and even stop the distribution of free ration to the poor.  

Keeping up with the appeasement theme, the Prime Minister said that another big agenda was the “cancellation of” the Ram temple in Ayodhya. 

“A veteran Congress leader, who was with the party for 20-25 years and joined the BJP recently, has made a shocking revelation. He said that when the court had ruled in favour of the construction of the Ram temple (in 2019), the ‘shahzada’ (Rahul Gandhi) organised a meeting of his key people, where he said that the Congress would overturn the Supreme Court order when it forms the government,” he claimed. 

He said Rahul Gandhi’s father, Rajiv Gandhi, had also overturned the Supreme Court judgment in the Shah Bano case in 1985 in keeping with the appeasement politics followed by the Congress. 

‘Power At All Costs’

Earlier in the day, Mrs Gandhi issued a video message in which she said that the BJP’s only goal was to gain power at any cost and that it has promoted hatred for political gain.

“In every part of the country, the youth are facing unemployment, women are enduring atrocities, and Dalit, adivasis and the backward castes are suffering intense discrimination. This environment is because of the intentions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, who want to win power at any cost. They are promoting hatred for political gain,” she said in Hindi.

“The Congress Party and I have always fought to strengthen the country and ensure the progress of all as well as justice for the deprived. Today, I am seeking your support once again. Our Nyay Patra (manifesto) and our guarantees are aimed at keeping the country united and giving strength to the poor, women, farmers, workers and deprived communities,” she said.

Mrs Gandhi said her party and the INDIA alliance are dedicated to protecting democracy and the Constitution as she made an appeal to the people to vote for the Congress and ensure a bright future for everyone. 

Jaipur:

In an apparent swipe at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said “those who cannot win elections have deserted the field” and become Rajya Sabha members from Rajasthan. This comes months after Mrs Gandhi was elected a member of the Upper House of Parliament, unopposed. Before her Rajya Sabha stint, Mrs Gandhi has represented Congress stronghold Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha for two decades. She has also represented Amethi for five years. 

The Prime Minister was in Rajasthan’s Jalore to campaign for BJP’s Lumbaram Choudhary, who is taking on Congress’s Vaibhav Gehlot, son of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The Jalore constituency is a BJP stronghold, with the party winning it consistently for two decades.

In today’s rally, the Prime Minister questioned if Congress MPs representing Rajasthan in Rajya Sabha raised the state’s issues. “The Congress sent a South leader to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. Has he never spoken about Rajasthan? No. You also sent former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Rajya Sabha. He was unwell, but did you see him in Rajasthan? And now, you have saved another leader. Those who cannot fight elections, win elections have deserted the field and come to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan,” he said, without naming Mrs Gandhi.

Currently, six Congress MPs represent Rajasthan in Rajya Sabha — Sonia Gandhi, Neeraj Dangi, Randeep Singh Surjewala, KC Venugopal, Pramod Tiwari and Mukul Wasnik; only Mr Dangi is actually from Rajasthan.

The Prime Minister said the people of Rajasthan had “punished” Congress in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in Rajasthan. Twelve out of 25 seats in the state had voted in the first phase last Friday. The remaining will vote this Friday.

“Rajasthan is seeped in patriotism. It knows that Congress can never make a strong India. The country does not want such a Congress government. The country does not want the pre-2014 situation to return,” he said.

Attacking the Opposition party with his oft-repeated “remote control” barb, the Prime Minister said, “No one respected the Prime Minister. The government was run by remote control.” The barb is a standard line of attack used by the BJP, in which it claims Mrs Gandhi was the de facto Prime Minister in the Manmohan Singh-led government.

The Prime Minister also took a veiled swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the 2013 episode in which he had said a UPA government ordinance to shield convicted lawmakers from disqualification must be “torn up and thrown away”. 

“Just imagine, a cabinet note is torn up at a press conference by a ruling party leader. Can such a weak dispensation make the country strong?” the Prime Minister asked, saying that the Congress was responsible for its current situation. “The party that once won 400 (Lok Sabha) seats cannot even contest 300 seats now. They are not getting candidates,” he said.

Nanded, Maharashtra:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, saying that in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, “Congress’s sahabzade” will also lose from Wayanad constituency in Kerala and he will have to look for a safer seat after that.

Addressing a rally at Nanded in Maharashtra to campaign for BJP candidates from Nanded and Hingoli seats, PM Modi said the information available for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls indicates that there has been a one-sided voting in favour of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Referring to Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi said, “After losing Amethi, the Congress’ sahabzade will lose Wayanad as well. So he will have to look for a safe seat after April 26.”

In an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi, he said some INDIA bloc leaders left the Lok Sabha and moved to the Rajya Sabha as they have no courage to contest elections.

“For the first time, the family will not vote for a Congress candidate in the constituency where they live as there is no party candidate there,” he said.

PM Modi said he has spent 10 years fixing the bad governance of the Congress regimes.

“A lot of work needs to be done,” he added.

The Congress has been a barrier in the development of farmers and poor people, he alleged.

“The agriculture crisis did not happen now. It happened because of the flawed policies of Congress,” PM Modi said.

Targeting the INDIA bloc, he said it has no face to project and people do not know whom to entrust the country’s future.

“They may claim anything, but the reality is that Congress leaders have accepted defeat even before the announcement of polls,” he said.

He termed the opposition alliance a grouping of selfish people who have come together to protect their corrupt practices.

He appealed to voters to come out in large numbers to exercise their voting right in the Lok Sabha elections.

“You are not doing any favour by voting. you are securing the country’s future. I want to boost the morale of the party workers from the opposition. You (opposition leaders) are sure to lose the polls, but you will get a chance some day. But you must appeal to voters to vote,” he said.

PM Modi said the INDIA bloc constituents were contesting the elections against each other in 25 per cent seats.

“After (the election results on) June 4, they will be fighting more with each other,” he said.

He said that without the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, what fate would have befallen Sikhs who came from Afghanistan.

The NDA under PM Modi is seeking a stronger majority for a third consecutive term, while the constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc are hoping for a rebound after facing reverses in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jaipur:

A day after the public meeting of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge here, several party leaders including former MLA Gangajal Meel and PCC vice president Sushil Sharma left the party and joined the BJP on Sunday.

Hanuman Meel, who contested assembly elections on Congress tickets from Suratgarh, former PCC vice president Ashok Awasthi and several others joined the BJP in the presence of BJP leaders including Onkar Singh Lakhawat, Narayan Panchariya and Arun Chaturvedi.

यशस्वी प्रधानमंत्री माननीय श्री नरेंद्र मोदी जी की विचारधारा एवं विकास कार्यों से प्रभावित होकर आज भाजपा प्रदेश कार्यालय जयपुर में पूर्व प्रदेशाध्यक्ष श्री अरुण चतुर्वेदी एवं धरोहर बोर्ड के अध्यक्ष श्री ओंकारसिंह लखावत के साथ कांग्रेस एवं विभिन्न दलों से आये नेताओं एवं… pic.twitter.com/81H1wgAeUD

— Narayan Lal Panchariya ( Modi ka parivar ) (@npanchariyabjp) April 7, 2024

Sushil Sharma alleged there is disappointment among the dedicated workers of the Congress due to factionalism. He claimed he worked for the Congress for years but now there was no one to listen to the party workers.

He said workers like him, who believe in the Sanatan Dharma, were disappointed due to the stand taken by the Congress on the issue of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government has proved its mettle not only in the country, but also abroad. Influenced by this, with nationalist thinking, I have decided to leave the Congress and join the BJP,” he said.

Former Congress MLA Meel accused PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra and former chief mister Ashok Gehlot of acting arbitrarily in ticket distribution for the assembly elections.

“When we complained about this to state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, he also did not listen to us. There is complete leg pulling going on in the Congress,” he said.

Apart from Congress leaders, several other people from different fields, including retired officers, joined the BJP at the party’s state headquarters in Jaipur.

धौलपुर है तैयार
फिर एक बार मोदी सरकार!

प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi की होने वाली रैली से पूर्व बड़ी संख्या में कुशवाहा समाज के सम्मानित लोग भाजपा परिवार में शामिल हो रहे हैं। इसी क्रम में आज भाजपा कार्यालय धौलपुर में प्रदेश चुनाव प्रभारी श्री @Vinay1011, प्रदेश महामंत्री श्री… pic.twitter.com/VL6Xlm79u2

— BJP Rajasthan (@BJP4Rajasthan) April 7, 2024

The Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan will be held in two phases on April 19 and 26.

In the first phase on April 19, 12 seats of Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa and Nagaur will go to polls.

The remaining 13 seats of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran will go to polls in the second phase on April 26. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Congress is getting down to the contentious task of candidate selection, with only 10 more days to go for Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. The party’s election committee is meeting in Delhi this evening. On its list are 10 states, for which it has to pick 60 candidates.

The list includes Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Lakshadweep.

The Congress, though, is yet to resolve the seat-sharing issue in two crucial states — Maharashtra and Bengal, which together account for 90 seats.

Talks with Maha Vikas Aghadi allies for the 48 seats in Maharashtra is still in progress. In Bengal, the Congress is trying to placate Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who has put her INDIA membership on hold, miffed with the way the seat sharing process was going.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is in Delhi and will take part in the meeting. Sources said decision can be taken on nine of the state’s 17 Lok Sabha seats.

Sources said the Congress is confident about south Telangana, though north Telangana may prove a challenge. Mr Reddy said he is confident that the party will get 14 of the 17 seats. For the rest, he blames “match-fixing” between the BJP and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi.

Declaring that the party’s performance will be a referendum on his three-month governance, he said the party’s state unit had wanted Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to contest from the state.

Mr Gandhi, though, is likely to stick to his current seat, Kerala’s Wayanad, and will attempt to win back Amethi. His Bharat Jodo Yatra is slated to finish in Mumbai on March 20.

Mr Gandhi, still, is attending today’s meeting. He and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge took a flight to Delhi from Rajasthan, where they were at the yatra. The party’s former chief Sonia Gandhi is also at the meet.

Rae Bareli:

Supporters of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have put up posters in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli, demanding that the party leadership picks her as the candidate for the Lok Sabha seat.

A traditional Congress stronghold, Rae Bareli has earlier been represented by former Prime Minister, late Indira Gandhi, and is a prestige seat for the Congress. Interestingly, this is also the seat that Indira Gandhi lost to Raj Narain in the 1977 general election – the only sitting Prime Minister to lose a Lok Sabha contest.

For the past two decades, the seat has been represented by Sonia Gandhi, who has now become a member of Rajya Sabha.

The Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the Rae Bareli seat. Amid speculation over the party’s choice for this prestige battle, supporters of Ms Gandhi Vadra have put up posters in the constituency. “Take Congress’s development work forward, Rae Bareli is calling, Priyanka Gandhi ji, please come,” a poster read. The posters have photographs of Sonia Gandhi, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad. 

The BJP, too, has not announced its candidate for the Lok Sabha seat.

In the 2014 and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress managed to win Rae Bareli despite a wave in favour of the BJP. Therefore, there is immense interest surrounding the BJP’s pick for this seat and whether Sonia Gandhi vacating the seat will impact the Congress’s prospects.

In the 2019 election, the BJP had fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh from the seat. Mr Singh, who lost to Sonia Gandhi by a margin of 1.60 lakh votes, has said whoever the party chooses this time will have his full support. “I will help him fight elections with all my heart, body, mind, and wealth. It is my resolve to make the lotus blossom,” Mr Singh, now a state minister, recently said in a social post.

In Amethi, another prestige seat for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has retained Union Minister and sitting MP Smriti Irani as its candidate. This will be the third consecutive time Ms Irani will be contesting from Amethi. Following a defeat in the 2014 election, she had come back strongly in 2019 to defeat Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Amethi has earlier been represented by Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister, late Rajiv Gandhi. The Congress has not yet announced its pick from Amethi for the upcoming polls.

Mumbai:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday slammed leaders of Opposition’s INDIA grouping for ‘promoting dynasties’, and urged the youth to vote for those who strengthen democracy.

“Sonia Gandhi’s launch of the ‘Rahul Yaan (craft)’ has failed miserably 19 times. Efforts are on for the 20th attempt,” Mr Shah said, addressing a youth rally in north Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district.

During his tour of Akola, Jalgaon and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in the state on Tuesday, Mr Shah asked the crowds at the rallies to vote for parties that would strengthen democracy, adding the youth will get opportunities only in the BJP.

“(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is trying to put a man on the moon, and (Congress leader) Sonia (Gandhi) is trying to launch her son Rahul for the 20th time. She tried 19 times, but he never made it to the destination,” Mr Shah said at the Jalgaon rally.

“Sonia Gandhi is trying to make Rahul PM, Uddhav (Thackeray) wants to make his son Aaditya chief minister, (Sharad) Pawar wants to make his daughter chief minister, Mamata Didi (Mamata Banerjee) wants to make her nephew chief minister, and (MK) Stalin wants to make his son chief minister,” the senior BJP leader said.

“Sonia Gandhi’s launch of ‘Rahul Yaan‘ has failed miserably 19 times,” he said.

How can parties promoting ‘parivarvaad‘ (dynastic politics) within their organisations strengthen democracy in the country, Mr Shah asked, speaking at the youth rally organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jalgaon.

All the INDI alliance parties which are opposing PM Modi promote dynastic politics, Mr Shah said. “Voting for the BJP means voting for a bright future of youth and for building a great India,” Mr Shah said. “Voting for BJP means voting for making Narendra Modi the PM for a third time,” he added.

Attacking the opposition MVA alliance in Maharashtra, Mr Shah said there is a three-wheeled Maha Vikas Aghadi ‘auto’ in the state and all its tyres are punctured. “Can this punctured auto ensure development in the state? No,” the senior BJP leader said.

When Atal Bihari Vajpayee left office as prime minister, the country’s economy had risen to become the 11th largest in the world, while Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi kept the country in the same position during the ten years of the UPA government, Shah said. PM Modi made the country the fifth largest economy, he added.

A vote for the BJP meant a “vote for Bharat” and making Modi prime minister for the third time, Mr Shah said, adding that it also meant a vote for the glorious future of the youth.

“Modi’s guarantee is that you give him a third term, and he will make the country the third largest economy in the world. He has a report card of ten years and a vision for the next 25 years. You do not always get such a leader,” he said.

Mr Shah also asked the youth whether they felt they had any place in parties that promote dynasties. “The only party where you have opportunity is the BJP, and your leader Narendra Modi is always there for you. He has made the country safe, and wiped out terrorism and the naxal menace,” the Union minister said.

Mr Shah also claimed that Rahul Gandhi, while opposing Modi government’s decision to abrogate provisions under Article 370, had said that blood would flow on the streets of Jammu and Kashmir as a consequence.

“Forget about blood, no one dared to throw even pebbles,” the BJP leader said.

In an apparent reference to the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Mr Shah said it was time to “liberate” Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar from “new Nizams”.

“Previously known as Aurangabad, the entire Marathwada region was under the Nizam rule. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel freed Marathwada from Nizam, and now it is time to liberate Sambhajinagar from the new Nizams,” Mr Shah said at the rally in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

In the 2019 general elections, AIMIM’s Imtiaz Jalil had defeated undivided Shiv Sena’s Chandrakant Khaire, supported by the BJP.

“We have worked tirelessly for 10 years. We have a track record of 10 years, and a roadmap for the next 25 years,” Mr Shah said.

Union Minister Raosaheb Danve, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and former chief minister Ashok Chavan also addressed the rally.

“I wish to ask the leaders of the INDI Alliance, what have they given to Maharashtra during 2004-14,” Mr Shah said, referring to the period when the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre and in the state.

Earlier in the day, Mr Shah reviewed BJP’s election preparations in North Maharashtra and Vidarbha at a meeting in Akola.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)