Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi, saying protests would not achieve anything and asserting that the BJP would remain in power for 30 years because the party works among the people and addresses their concerns, PTI reported.

Source: PTI via Aseemaa Magazine

Speaking in Delhi at the launch of Yamuna rejuvenation projects worth Rs 8,941 crore — yaani about Rs 89.41 billion — Shah took a dig at Gandhi's reported visit abroad, saying: "You cannot hear me because you are sitting somewhere abroad and you don't even explain why you are abroad. It is alright, as it is your private life." He added that Gandhi would not get a chance to come to power even in the next 30 years, PTI reported.

Shah accused the opposition of double standards on the Election Commission, arguing that it accepts the poll process when it wins in states such as Kerala, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh but questions the Commission when it loses. "You cannot belie the country's mandate through political machinations and mobocracy," he said, referring to the recent opposition protests led by Gandhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged vote theft.

In ANI's account of the same address, Shah alleged that the "vote theft" charge was being raised to protect the votes of infiltrators, and said the Congress had not been elected in several states for decades — a trend he said began long before Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power. He also targeted AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, claiming his party would be rooted out in Punjab, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

The remarks came on a day when the INDIA bloc deferred a planned virtual meeting on its protest roadmap over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and its demand for the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation. The Congress has defended Gandhi's overseas travel, maintaining that it is a personal matter, according to reports of the exchange.