“PoK is a part of India and we will take it back,” asserts Home Minister Amit Shah

Union Minister Amit Shah on Saturday castigated the Congress for trying to “frighten us” by saying that the neighbouring country possesses atom bombs and asserted that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is a part of India and “we will take it.”

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) hamara hai, hamara rahega aur hum ise lekar rahenge (PoK is ours and it will remain ours. We will take it,” Shah told a rally at Amb in Una district in support of Union minister Anurag Thakur, the BJP candidate from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat.

Earlier, Congress veteran leader Mani Shankar Aiyar found himself in the soup after a clip of an old interview surfaced in which he is heard saying that Pakistan, as a nuclear-armed country, deserves respect. He also advocated the need for India to reengage with its neighbour.

Shah further lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for eradicating terrorism from India and took a jab at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah remarked, “Rahul Baba, during your party’s rule, any “Alia Malia Jamalia” would come from Pakistan, carry out bombings, and leave.”

Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already won 310 seats in the first five phases of Lok Sabha polls and the target of ‘400-paar’ would be achieved in the sixth and the last phases, while Congress Rahul Gandhi would be restrained at just 40 seats.

He also appealed to people to make the BJP victorious in the six assembly seat bypolls for the formation of a BJP government in the state and help achieve the target of ‘400-paar’.

Exuding confidence in BJP’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Shah stated, “Five phases of elections have been completed. In these five phases, Prime Minister has crossed the mark of 310 and in the sixth and seventh, by crossing 400, we have to make him the Prime Minister, and the onus is on those who are voting in the seventh phase. While the BJP is on track to surpass 400 seats, Rahul Baba is once again dwindling below 40 seats”.

He also criticized Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi, saying, “They visit Shimla for vacations but avoided attending the inauguration ceremony of Ram Mandir due to their fear of alienating their vote bank.”

Heaping praise on BJP candidate from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, Shah said, “I have known Anurag Thakur for many years. Even if you search with a lamp, you won’t find an MP like Anurag Thakur. He has not only looked after his constituency but has also worked to unite the youth across the country with the BJP and its ideology.”

Union Minister Anurag Thakur is pitted against Congress party’s Satpal Raizada in Hamirpur.

Shah further criticized the current Congress government for not fulfilling its promises, saying, “The current Congress government is false and ineffective. They promised 100,000 jobs in their first cabinet meeting, Rs 1500 for women, and buying cow dung, but none of these guarantees have been fulfilled.”

He also enumerated the central projects given to Himachal Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amounting to over Rs 10,000 crores.

Polling in all four seats in Himachal is scheduled for June 1. It will not only pit candidates vying for Lok Sabha membership from four seats but also elect members for six assembly seats that fell vacant following the resignation and switchover of dissident Congress lawmakers.

The BJP, which won all four Lok Sabha constituencies in the state in the 2019 elections, is eyeing an encore this time.