Will continue as BJP chief even if elected to Rajya Sabha: Amit Shah in Lucknow

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Monday refuted rumours of him resigning from the party post if elected to Rajya Sabha. "There is no question. I have the responsibility of being BJP president. I am happy and satisfied with that role and I am doing it with full vigour. Aap log dhakka mat lagaiye (don't push me out)," Shah arrived in Lucknow on Monday on a three-day visit.

On the recent switch of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the NDA, Shah said Nitish himself decided to part ways from the RJD and the Grand Alliance and that the BJP did not break any party. "It was Nitish Kumar who resigned from the post of the chief minister as he did not want to continue with the corrupt. Were we supposed to force them to continue?"said Shah.

Shah moved on to take a jibe at the Congress over its MLAs quitting the party in Gujarat as he questioned the trust it reposed in its MLAs. "It seems Congress does not trust its MLAs. Why have they been made prisoners?"

Asked by journalists on reports of Samajwadi Party's Shivpal Yadav joining BJP, Shah dismissed such reports saying there have not been any discussions on him joining the saffron party. "Unhe lekar abhi aisi koi charcha nahi hai (We haven't discussed him yet)," he said.

Speaking of the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP national president said it will take time to revive the state that was an arena of politics for the former government and the police. He added that during the tenure of the last government, their scams would surface every month, however, during the three-year rule of the NDA not a single scam had tainted the party. "Jo Police aur prashasan ka itne saalon mein rajneeti karan hua hai use sudhaarne mein thoda time lagega (We'll need some time to fix the politics done by the politics done by the politicians and police for so many years)."

The BJP president also boasted about the corruption-free record of the BJP-led NDA government. Claiming that there were scams worth Rs 12 lakh crore in the 10 years of the UPA government, Shah said there was not a single allegation of corruption during the three years of the Modi government. He also referred to the recent Panama papers scam, that has named several big shots of national and international fame but not a single person from BJP. "Isme BJP ka ek bhi vyakti nahi hai (Not a single person involved is from the BJP)," he added.

On being questioned about the party not being as strong in the south as it was in the north, he said similar was said the BJP's presence in the north previously. He also exuded confidence about the party coming back to power in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "BJP will romp home victorious with bigger strength than 2014 on the basis of its development and good governance of the Modi government, as well as the 13 state governments of the party in the country," he said.

During the press briefing, Amit Shah also listed out the projects taken up by the Narendra Modi led government. Calling Narendra Modi as the "undisputed most popular PM" of the country, he said the Modi government had undertaken 50 important works in its three years, unlike the previous governments which had just a couple of things to show as their achievements during their tenures.