Pitching himself as the only strong leader in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that he was even ready to put his life on the line for the country.
“Do you want a strong government? A government which will finish off terrorism? Do you want a government which struck inside Pakistan? Do you want a strong Prime Minister? Tell me who is the strongest among all the names which are being talked about? Who can do the work that you want? Do you trust that Modi is ready to put his life on the line? Are you ready to [believe] that I am ready to do anything for the country? Will you make this chowkidar stronger?” he asked an election rally in Nandurbar in Maharashtra.
Heena Gavit of the BJP is seeking re-election from the Nandurbar (ST) seat while Union Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhambre is seeking re-election from Dhule.
Remembering Nandurbar as the place where the Congress government launched Aadhaar, Mr. Modi said the previous Congress government made it niradhar (unfounded).
“This chowkidar ’s government raised Aadhaar, Jan Dhan bank accounts and mobile connections across the country and stopped middlemen. Now the government benefits are coming directly to your accounts and therefore, the same Congress is going to the Supreme Court to close down Aadhaar,” he said.
In an earlier rally in Pimpalgaon-Baswant of Nashik district, he said the BJP would return to power in Delhi on May 23, and the criterion of five acres for being eligible to Pradhan Mantri Kisan Scheme would be removed.
He was campaigning for BJP’s Bharati Pawar in Dindori (ST) and Shiv Sena’s Hemant Godse in Nasik.
Recalling the blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter day, Mr. Modi said that before 2014, India used to face similar blasts all over the country at regular intervals. “What did the Congress-NCP government do then? They held condolence meetings, expressed sorrow, cried all over the world in the name of Pakistan. Our government changed this cowardly policy, as we struck inside the terror factory. Due to us, terrorism in India is now restricted to a small part of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
‘Cong. soft on terror’
Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur town, Mr. Modi expressed his resolve to tear apart “Pakistan’s haughtiness.”
He accused the Congress of being soft on terrorism sponsored by the neighbouring country despite its promise of “zero tolerance” made in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Mr. Modi said the Congress ‘remained silent’ because of its “vote bank politics” when bomb blasts ripped apart localities in cities such as Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and Patna during the UPA regime. “Congress shamefully defended the rhetoric of Pakistan and obfuscated its role in the terror activities,” he said.
“The Congress manifesto for the [Lok Sabha] elections is a bundle of lies and has turned out to be a mouthpiece of Pakistan... This party is talking of stripping the Army of its powers in the Kashmir Valley. This is an insult to our brave martyrs,” Mr. Modi said. Though he was elected in “difficult circumstances” in 2014, he had successfully dealt with the “imperiousness of Pakistan” and shown the western neighbour its place. “Today India kills terrorists by hitting them in their homes. This is the difference between a weak government and a strong government. You should be proud of it,” he said.
At an election rally in Udaipur, he criticised the Congress and its alliance partners for taking exception to national security and terrorism being raised as poll issues. “Why should we not talk about defending our nation? Is it the Lok Sabha election or the Udaipur municipality polls,” he asked.
