'Congress pushed India into darkness'

PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the concluding speech at Bharatiya Janata Party's two-day national council meet at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Saturday. The meet assumes significance in light of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The agenda was social justice and farmer outreach. PM Modi remembered the former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying, "This is the first National Convention without Atal Ji." He also said that the Quota bill introduced by the government is brought 'to ensure equality'.

'Congress stalling legal process in Ayodhya case'
Attacking the Congress party over Ayodhya case, PM Modi said, "Congress is stalling legal process in Ayodhya case. It is sending lawyers to Supreme Court as it doesn't want any solution to the Ayodhya issue. Congress is trying to obstruct the Ayodhya case through its lawyers. Congress was even ready to impeach the CJI using false allegations. What kind of mentality does the Congress have which works against the country's interest on every issue?" questioned PM Modi. Further attacking the party, he added, "The government before us pushed the country into darkness. It won't be wrong if I say that India lost 10 important years (2004-2014) in scams and corruption."

BJP president Amit Shah at the national council meet on Saturday

'Losing 2019 would be like Marathas' defeat in Panipat'
BJP president Amit Shah has dismissed proposed grand alliance of opposition as "sham". Opposition's proposed alliance has no nationwide relevance, he said Shah said that the upcoming Lok Sabha elections were like the third battle of Panipat between Marathas and the Afghan army fought in the 1761. Saying that the election results will be equally significant for the country, Shah added that the polls would be "a battle of ideologies".

He also said that the BJP wants a Ram temple to be constructed at the earliest in Ayodhya, drawing huge applause from thousands of party members, and accused the Congress of creating hurdles in the issue's early resolution in the Supreme Court. Targeting the opposition, Shah said its proposed alliance has no nationwide relevance and the BJP had defeated each of them in 2014, claiming that the party is sure to come back to power with a bigger majority. It had won 282 of 543 seats in the last Lok Sabha polls. Amid a challenge from the likely opposition unity, Shah sought to reassure the party cadres about its prospects.

282 of 543
Number of seats BJP won in the last Lok Sabha polls

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