'They Don't Believe In India's Sovereignty': Amit Shah Slams Congress After SDPI Extends Support

Hitting out at Congress after the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) offered to support the UDF in Kerala, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that grand-old-party does not believe in India’s sovereignty and has been supporting anti-India campaigns for several years.

Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18 during his roadshow in Ramanagara, Karnataka, the Home Minister said he is not shocked to see Congress getting support from SDPI.

“I am not shocked to see that SDPI is supporting Congress. With the support communal forces, Congress has been supporting anti-India campaigns for several years. Support from SDPI means that you don’t believe in India’s sovereignty,” he said.

The SDPI, the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India, has announced to support the Congress-led UDF in the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala. SDPI state President Muvattupuzha Ashraf Moulavi, said the party has not fielded any candidates in Kerala but has 18 candidates in various parts of the country.”

However, the Congress on Tuesday opted not to give a clear answer as to whether they would accept or reject the support offered by the SDPI. AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal, also a Lok Sabha candidate in Alappuzha constituency, said the Congress party never sought any help from the SDPI and no discussion has happened in this regard.

Shah further said that the BJP will sweep all 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. “This roadshow demonstrates the support for PM Modi in Karnataka, and our candidate will win by a huge margin in the election,” he said.

The Home Minister further said, “Modi has appealed to the people to help NDA win more than 400 seats in the upcoming election. Under Modi’s leadership, the Indian economy has risen from the 11th largest to the 5th largest. If Modi ji is elected as the Prime Minister for the third time, he aims to make the Indian economy reach the third-largest position.”

Reacting to Shah’s statement, HD Kumaraswamy said, “A clear message has been sent to the state that BJP-JDS alliance is required for Karnataka, and people of Channapattana have given that message. The involvement of Amit Shah in Tuesday’s campaign has given us hope that our tie-up will win 28 seats in Karnataka.”

Karnataka’s former CM added that the Congress had not won on its own strength. “It had won because of the division of BJP and JDS,” he added.