Rajnath Singh speaks on Rafale in Tauru

Gurugram: The Rafale aircraft dominated defence minister Rajnath Singh’s speech at a rally in Tauru, which is a part of Sohna constituency, where he was campaigning

Gurugram: The Rafale aircraft dominated defence minister Rajnath Singh’s speech at a rally in Tauru, which is a part of Sohna constituency, where he was campaigning for BJP candidate Sanjay Singh on Friday. The defence minister stressed the importance of having the Rafale aircraft, and how every Indian should be proud of the respect given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in US during the ‘Howdy Modi’ rally, while he gave a miss to local issues like sanitation, roads, streetlights, said locals who attended the rally.

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“When I wrote ‘Om’ on Rafale, at that time there were Muslims and Christians too present there, so, why this controversy? In our country, people are questioning why I wrote ‘Om’. This is not right. The day I had written ‘Om’, it was Vijaya Dashami and it is the tradition of worshipping weapons that day,” Singh said during the rally.

In his 20 minute speech, the defence minister spoke mostly of Rafale and claimed India now has an edge over others now. “The aircraft has supersonic speed, and in April we’ll have seven of them at Ambala airbase,” he said. Singh even went on to say that if India had Rafale few months back then our jets would not have crossed the ‘Line of Control’ (LoC). These jets have the capacity to fire from long distances with accuracy,” Singh added.

He assured the locals in Muslim-dominated Tauru, about 35 kilometres from Gurugram, that if BJP comes back to power in Haryana, it will be in their interest as well. “We may belong to different religions, but God has made us one and all of us have one heart. I have come to Tauru with a clear intent to send out a message that Muslims are with us,” he said. Even though Sohna constituency has 1.5 lakh voters, including Gujjars and Meos, Tauru is a Muslim-dominated area. Singh addressed around 1,000 people in a covered tent.

The union minister asked the public why BJP is being targeted when Zakir Hussain joined the BJP from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) earlier this year. “If BJP was against Muslims, would Hussain have ever been part of our party,” he asked.

Explaining why he joined the party, Hussain said, “I have joined the party because I know that development can happen only under it.” He attacked the Congress, saying the party is not meant for Muslims anymore. “Muslims are not going to support the Congress because of its appeasement policy; they have faith in BJP under Narendra Modi,” he added.

Hasim Ali, a resident of Tauru, said, “We had come to the rally hoping that a national leader would stress on how our area will get proper streetlights, roads and proper sewage. He spoke only of national issues. Singh should remember he is campaigning for assembly polls and not for Lok Sabha.”

Some residents who were part of the rally said they heard Singh was coming to Tauru after Friday’s prayer in the mosque. “I have high hopes from BJP, they are capable of turning things around for us. I feel that our area’s concerns were missed in his speech,” said Habib Khan, another resident of Tauru.

Congress state spokesperson Ved Prakash Vidrohi, said, “BJP leaders don’t have any issues for which they are fighting for in the state. They are only bringing up larger issues like Article 370, NRC and Rafale into this election.”