The BJP does not believe in “family planning” in politics and always welcomes new allies, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Saturday as talks with the Shiromani Akali Dal are on.

Speaking at an event, Shah also asserted that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections and predicted that the BJP would win 370 seats while the N DA will get more than 400 out of 543 seats in the elections.
Asked about the possibility of Jayant Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and other regional parties joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the home minister said Said, “We believe in family planning. General) but not in politics.”
“We always want our alliance to grow and we always welcome new allies. Our vision has been the same since the days of Jan Sangh. Those who want to join us can come,” he told ET NOW Global. said at the Business Summit 2024.
When pressed further on SAD's re-entry into the NDA, he said, “Discussions are going on but nothing has been decided.”
The Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD had parted ways with the NDA in September 2020 over the now-defunct three farm rules.
On the possibility of the TDP, which quit the NDA in 2018, or joining hands with the YSR Congress, Shah said, “Not everything is revealed in such platforms. Wait for some time. Everything will become clear to everyone.”
In a major political shift ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar last month switched from the opposition India Bloc to the NDA while the RLD also joined the BJP-led alliance. It is happening.
Shah said the BJP has never sought separation from any alliance partner and has allowed its regional allies to lead state governments even as major partners.
He said that many friends have come and many have gone.
Shah said, “Usually there are two reasons why they leave, it is because of a particular incident or because of the political equation of a particular state. But the BJP has never sought separation from any party. BJP has always maintained the dharma of unity,” said Shah.
The Union Minister asserted that there is no suspense over the Lok Sabha election results and even the Congress and other opposition parties have realized that they will have to sit on the opposition benches again.
“We have abrogated Article 370 (which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir) of the Constitution. So we are confident that the people of the country will give 370 seats to the BJP and 400 to the NDA. will award more seats than,” Shah said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a similar prediction in his speech in the Lok Sabha a few days ago about winning the third consecutive term.
Shah said that the 2024 elections will not be between the NDA and the Indian opposition bloc, but between those who promise development and a bright future and those who merely raise slogans and represent hopelessness.
Asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said the Nehru-Gandhi family had no right to go ahead with such a march as their party was responsible for the partition of the country in 1947. was
Now, he said, once again some Congress people are talking about partition of the country (South India-North India) and the party is not even distancing itself from such statements.
On the timing of the white paper tabled by the government in Parliament, Shah said it is important as the country has every right to know that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power in 2014. What a mess was left after losing.
“At that time (2014), the economy was in bad shape, there were scams everywhere, foreign investment was not coming in, if we had issued a white paper at that time, it would have sent the wrong message to the world.
“But after 10 years, our government has revived the economy, brought foreign investment and there is no corruption. So it is the right time to publish the white paper,” he said.
The Home Minister said that the Congress is afraid that their scams since 1948 will be exposed in the White Paper.
He claimed that there were scams during the two terms of the previous UPA government. ₹12 lakh crore.
On the CAA, Shah said the law, enacted in 2019, will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections after issuing rules in this regard.
“Our Muslim brothers are being misled and incited (against CAA). CAA aims to grant citizenship only to those who face religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. came to India after . This is not to take away Indian citizenship from anyone”. They said.
To a question on the Uniform Civil Code, Shah said it was a constitutional agenda signed by the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and others.
“But the Congress ignored it out of complacency. The implementation of UCC in Uttarakhand is a social change. It will be debated in all forums and will face legal scrutiny.
He said that a secular country cannot have a civil code based on religion.
On the decision to confer the Bharat Ratna on Chaudhary Charan Singh, former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and renowned agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan, Shah said that all three men were giants of their time.
He said that during the Congress era, Bharat Ratna was given either due to compulsion or to the family.
Asked by some leaders, including Uddhav Thackeray, why Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was not being awarded the Bharat Ratna, Shah said: “We have noted their suggestion”.
The Home Minister, however, refused to comment on the issues of Gianavapi Masjid and Shahi Eidgah Masjid complex in Mathura, saying that these are now matters of courts.
Asked about the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, he said: “The Act is in place”.
The Act prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and provides for the retention of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947, except for the Ram Janmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya.
A section, including some BJP leaders, has demanded that the law be scrapped.
Shah said it was unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's caste was being debated and alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had a habit of telling lies in public and then repeating them.
Shah also said that it was the Congress government in Gujarat that included Modi's caste in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list in 1994 and the Center included the Prime Minister's caste in the OBC list in 2000. added
“Even then, Modi was not in a position of power – neither MP, MLA nor Sarpanch. He became Chief Minister in 2001. These people have a habit of distorting facts,” Shah said. Shah said.