Shah pays tribute: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday (August 21) paid tributes to late BJP leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh- often seen as the most prominent pro-Hindutva OBC face in the state, on his second death anniversary.
Singh passed away in 2021. The BJP is organising 'Hindu Gaurav Diwas' in Aligarh as a mark of respect for the former chief minister whose birthplace was Aligarh.
Addressing a public meeting on the 'Hindu Gaurav Diwas' to commemorate the second death anniversary of former CM Kalyan Singh, Shah raised the issue of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and said that Kalyan Singh sacrificed his chief ministerial chair for the Ram temple.
"I have come here from Delhi to pay tributes to Kalyan Singh, our senior BJP leader, 'Ram Bhakt' and the one who initiated the work of uplifting the backward in Uttar Pradesh. Congress tried to stop the construction of Ram Mandir. Kalyan Singh sacrificed the chair for the Ram Mandir. Ram Mandir is being constructed without a drop of blood being shed," Shah said.
Shah's poll bugle in UP
The Home Minister also sounded the poll bugle for the BJP's preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and urged the people of bag all 80 seats to the BJP next year.
"Raise your hands and say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' with a resolve to give all 80 (Lok Sabha) seats in UP to the BJP," Shah said.
Shah further lauded the central schemes for the poor and said, "Under Garib Kalyan Yojana, PM Modi gave gas stoves, electricity, toilets, drinking water...and many other facilities to the houses of crores of poor people."
Earlier in the day, paying rich tributes, Shah took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and said, “For the first time, Kalyan Singh ji started a fear-free and corruption-free governance in Uttar Pradesh. Babuji was such a huge banyan tree, under whose canopy the organization flourished in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP reached the masses. His unique contribution to the Ramjanmabhoomi movement cannot be forgotten. Babuji, who dedicated his whole life for the country and countrymen, will always be a source of inspiration for the workers. Hundreds of salutes to him on his death anniversary.”
Notably, Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya.
