E-Paper
Spread message of brotherhood, says Rajnath amid poll rivalry
Defence minister Rajnath Singh appealed to BJP workers to reach out to both Hindus and Muslims and convince them that only BJP can bring peace, prosperity and development.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday struck a different note amidst poll campaigning when he appealed to Lucknowites to uphold the famed “tehzeeb” of the city and spread the message of brotherhood where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians have been living together peacefully.
He appealed to BJP workers to reach out to both Hindus and Muslims and convince them that only BJP can bring peace, prosperity and development.
Addressing three public meetings in Lucknow to drum support for BJP candidates, Singh said polling till now, wherein BJP was bagging most seats, “was an indication as to how chief minister Yogi Adityanath had fared in last five years, especially on the law and order front as he nailed goons and criminals and gave a sense of security to the citizens.”
He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was on course of a thumping victory in the UP elections like in 2017.
The nine assembly seats of Lucknow district go to polls in the fourth phase of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on February 23. Singh addressed meetings in Lucknow North for Dr Neeraj Bora, Lucknow East for Ashutosh Tandon (Gopalji) and Lucknow Central for Rajnish Gupta.
Singh flayed Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for “clapping” when Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi “was insulting the people of UP.”
Singh also flayed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for not lauding the brave act of Indian armed forces after they carried out surgical strike and destroyed Pakistan terror camps.
“During the standoff between China and India, Rahul had said that Indian armed forces suffered more losses. His claim was proved wrong by Australian media which said China lost between 38 and 50 of its soldiers,” Singh said.
To give a boost to the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (self-reliant India movement), the defence minister said, “We are in the process to reduce dependence on imported military hardware. I don’t want to give any deadline but we are committed to produce sophisticated firearms and weapons on Indian soil and by our own people. Not only that, we will sell our products to foreign countries in years to come.”
On many opposition leaders raising the issue of price rise and inflation, Singh said, “Due to the global pandemic, a number of people lost their jobs. Production suffered. But even in Covid times, PM Modi distributed free ration to 80 crore poor citizens. It was not just India, several developed countries like US also struggled to contain inflation. We administered free vaccine to all.”
Without naming SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Singh said when vaccination began in India, one leader had tried to mislead Muslims to not get jabbed. “But I am happy that my Muslim brothers and sisters came forward in large numbers and got jabbed,” he said.
