Valsad: Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah was in his home state of Gujarat today to campaign for his party ahead of the Lok Sabha general election polling on May 7th. During his visit, Shah addressed two public meetings in Bodeli of Chota Udepur and Vansda of Navsari.

Addressing the rally in Vansda, Shah said “Rahul Yaan was launched more than 20 times by Sonia ji, but it failed to launch. This is the 21st launch, and I assure you it will fail, too. Rahul Gandhi used to contest elections from Amethi previously, but he lost and then moved to Wayanad. Fearing impending defeat there, he is now contesting from Rae Bareli. Rahul ji, the issue is not with the seats. The problem lies with you. You’ll lose wherever you go! You will also face defeat in Rae Bareli.”

Shah also referred to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as an “urban Naxal party,” warning that the Maoist threat would escalate in the region if the opposition candidate secures victory from the Valsad Lok Sabha seat.

Speaking at a rally in support of BJP candidate Dhaval Patel in Vansda, Shah expressed concerns about the alliance between the Congress and the urban Naxal party AAP, claiming it would disrupt peace in the tribal region. He questioned the audience whether they wanted extortion to occur in Valsad and whether they would tolerate the resurgence of Naxalism in the forest areas.

Shah blamed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for spreading misinformation about the vaccination drive during the COVID-19 pandemic, alleging that it resulted in the deaths of many tribals who believed his false claims and refrained from getting vaccinated. Shah accused the Congress-led INDI alliance of aiming to redistribute quotas from SC, STs, and OBCs to Muslims, similar to what was done in Telangana and Karnataka. He pledged that the BJP would abolish the Muslim quota and reinstate its benefits to Dalits, STs, and OBCs.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi for contesting from Wayanad and Raebareli Lok Sabha seats, Shah compared his unsuccessful attempts to launch campaigns to the failed attempts of “Rahul Yaan,” contrasting it with the successful Chandrayaan mission to the moon’s south pole. Shah ridiculed Sonia Gandhi’s decision to launch “Rahul Yaan” for the 21st time, suggesting it would fail again, referring to Rahul Gandhi filing his nomination from the family stronghold of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.