Rajnath Singh says Modi paused Russia-Ukraine conflict

Rajnath Singh claims India's global stature rose under Modi, citing efforts to safely return students from Ukraine, while campaigning in Mumbai for BJP.

MUMBAI: ‘War Rukwa di Papa’, the claim in the much memefied BJP ad on the bringing back of 22,000 students from Ukraine, is back, this time in the voice of union external affairs minister Rajnath Singh. Singh, who was in Mumbai to woo the city’s North Indian voters and address election rallies, declared that ever since Narendra Modi took over in 2014, the country had upped its stature in the global arena. “India’s power has improved so much that the war between Russia and Ukraine was halted for four and a half hours,” he said. “This was done after Modiji spoke to the heads of the two countries to enable 2,000 Indian students to come back safely.”

Rajnath Singh says Modi paused Russia-Ukraine conflict

Singh, who had lunch with select North Indian community leaders, addressed three rallies in Vasai-Virar and Pune for BJP candidates. “I have been campaigning in Jharkhand (where assembly polls are being held at the same time as Maharashtra), and I have sensed that we will get a clear majority there,” he said. “Here too, the scenario has changed comparatively (as against that which was prevalent during the Lok Sabha elections), and I am sure that we will form the government here too. The state government under Shinde has performed well and I think the people should vote for the Mahayuti.”

Singh said that India was Number 11 in economic size and its position had improved so tremendously that it would be the third largest economy in the world by 2027 after the US and China.

The interaction, organised by the Kripa Shankar Singh-led Parishram Sanstha, was a bid to consolidate North Indian voters in support of the ruling alliance. North Indians account for roughly 1.8 million of Mumbai’s population and have a sizable voter chunk in seven to eight of the city’s 36 constituencies.