 Agencies
ARRAH/JEHANABAD, May 26: BJP president JP Nadda on Sunday credited his party with providing a "mazboot" (strong) government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was capable of penetrating Pakistan's borders to destroy terrorist hideouts.
In contrast, the former Union minister charged, the Congress-led UPA government that got voted out in 2014 was "majboor, kamzor aur apang" (helpless, weak and crippled).
Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Bihar's Arrah and Jehanabad constituencies, Nadda mocked the UPA for having sent "dossiers to Pakistan when the nation was rattled by terrorist attacks sponsored from across the border".
"When Modi took over, and Uri and Pulwama happened, our troops penetrated Pakistan's borders to conduct surgical strikes and Balakot air strikes and beat the terrorists inside their homes," he said.
Nadda also praised the government for scrapping Article 370, claiming it "liberated people of Jammu and Kashmir, who had been held hostage by a handful of political families for years".
"In the ongoing elections, Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a record turnout. The enthusiasm of voters is a testimony to the liberating effect of abrogation of Article 370," he claimed.
Training his guns at the RJD, a Congress ally that is also the BJP's principal challenger in Bihar, Nadda said the party stood for "rishwatkhori" (corruption), was "rashtra virodhi" (anti-national), promoted "jungle raj" (lawlessness) whenever in power, and was comparable to "dal dal" (marshland).
Underscoring the improvements in the living standards of people with Modi at the helm, Nadda said "today almost every household has electricity. A giant leap from the situation 10 years ago when 2.5 crore had no access to power and only 18,000 villages were electrified".
"Ten years ago, almost every handset owned by Indians used to be made in China, Taiwan, Japan or Korea. Today, most of your mobile phones are made in India. We are manufacturing 97 per cent of the mobile phones we use. This is an example of the positive changes," he said.
Nadda said PM Modi has not simply ruled but has brought a fundamental change in the country's political culture.
"The common people, who had become used to a state of indifference, are now resolutely with Modi to take forward the pledge of 'Viksit Bharat' (developed India)," he said.
Nadda claimed that in the six phases of general elections that have passed, the NDA was ahead in enough number of seats to be well past the majority mark and "we are on course to achieving the target of 400-plus".
The BJP president was on a whirlwind tour of the state, where eight seats were going to polls on June 1 in the final phase. He was scheduled to wind up his tour with a rally in Nalanda Lok Sabha constituency, named after the eponymous home district of ally Nitish Kumar, the Bihar CM and JD(U) president. |
