Amit Shah calls Baghel ‘prepaid CM’

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Bemetara district in Chhattisgarh has become a center of “love jihad” and asserted no one would dare do such an act if the BJP is voted to power in the state. He accused Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, a senior Congress leader, of insulting Lord Mahadev by naming a betting app after him, and called him a “prepaid CM”.

Shah said the BJP has worked for the welfare of OBC communities, giving them wide representation in the central ministry, Parliament, and state assemblies, and added the saffron party has given the country its first Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) from an extremely backward class. The senior BJP leader alleged Baghel during his tenure as CM had turned the Durg division, once an education hub, into a center of betting.

He addressed three rallies – in Bemetara, Janjgir-Champa, and Korba districts – on the last day of campaigning for the second and final phase of elections in the state on November 17. The BJP has fielded local resident Ishwar Sahu, whose son Bhuneshwar Sahu was killed in a communal clash in Biranpur village of Bemetara in April, from the Saja assembly seat in the district.

Ishwar Sahu is not only a candidate but a symbol of the fight for justice. Under Bhupesh Kakka’s rule (referring to CM), communal elements lynched Sahu’s son Bhuneshwar Sahu. People of Bhupesh Kakka offered a cheque and job to Ishwar ji asking him not to seek justice. But I would like to thank Ishwar ji that he refused and sought justice, Shah said at the rally in Saja. He vowed to send Bhuneshwar Sahu’s killers to jail after the BJP came to power.

“It is our responsibility to ensure justice for Bhuneshwar Sahu. No one will be allowed to violate the law. Every murderer of Bhuneshwar Sahu will be sent to jail… the countdown of the exit of Bhupesh Kakka has started,” the former BJP president said. Shah urged voters to bring his party to power, saying a BJP government would ensure justice to Bhuneshwar Sahu and teach a lesson to those indulging in politics of appeasement.

Further slamming the Congress government in Chhattisgarh, Shah said Bemetara has turned into a center of “love jihad” under Baghel’s chief ministership.”Love jihad” is a term often used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

Sahu, Kurmi, and Gond communities were under the target of it (love jihad) while the Bhupesh Baghel government remained asleep, he alleged. Who will wake them up? It’s your votes. I promise, you bring BJP to power, no one will dare commit such an act, Shah asserted.

Targeting the CM over the alleged Mahadev betting app scam, Shah said, ” Bhupesh Kakka destroyed the Durg division. During the Raman Singh-led BJP government, the Durg division became a center of education. Bhupesh Baghel turned it into a center of satta (betting).” The BJP leader maintained Baghel could have given his own name to the online platform, which is at the center of an alleged scam.”Why did he use the name Mahadev? Modi ji sent Chandrayaan to the moon and named the spot (where it landed) Shivshakti, expressing reverence to Lord Shiva and Maa Shakti. But Bhupesh Kakka named a betting app after Mahadev and insulted him,” he said.

The Congress CM has pushed youths into the business of betting, Shah alleged and cautioned voters against giving him a second term in office.”If Bhupesh Baghel returns to power, citizens won’t be able to utter the name of Mahadev. He has committed the sin of pushing youths into the business of betting,” the BJP leader stated.