Warriors don’t look for bodies, vultures do: Rajnath Singh

PITHORAGARH/ROORKEE/DEHRADUN: Union home minister Rajnath Singh who addressed a series of poll rallies in

Uttarakhand

on Monday attacked the opposition on a number of issues ranging from their demand for proof for the Balakot air strikes to the NYAY scheme proposal floated by Congress president Rahul Gandhi.


In his first rally of the day at Pithoragarh’s Dev Singh Bisht Ground, Singh said in an apparent counter to the opposition asking for proof of the number of persons killed in the strikes, “It is the job of warriors to strike, while those seeking proof are like

vultures

and kites who look for bodies.”

Singh — who later in the day addressed three more rallies at Gopeshwar, Kotdwar and Jhabreda — added that his party had removed the leadership crisis in 2014 and was heading towards a major victory in 2019. “BJP has given a corruption-free government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, besides setting the country on the path of becoming one of the largest economies of the world. India, which ranked 11th in the list of world economies in 2013, has jumped to the sixth position and will stand 5th in the list over the next six months. If the pace of development continues, India will be the third largest economy in the world by 2028,”

He further said that “Congress should learn from the BJP how a government should be run.” “Only this government could take the bold decision to strike right in Pakistani territory to destroy terrorist camps while the Congress government did not have the courage to take such a decision. There has not been a single charge of corruption against any minister in the Modi cabinet in the last five years,”

The home minister was in Pithoragarh — a border area which has a large number of serving and retired defence personnel — in support of BJP candidate for the Almora (reserved) seat Ajay Tamta, who is the sitting MP and Union minister of state for textiles.

Referring to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's proposed minimum income guarantee scheme NYAY which aims to lift five crore families out of poverty, Singh said, “The poverty alleviation slogan was first given by Jawaharlal Nehru and carried forward by Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. It is being repeated by Rahul Gandhi who is promising to put Rs 72,000 into the account of every poor person. It is a fake promise like the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’.”

At his rally in Gopeshwar, Singh began his speech in the manner of a courtroom pledge telling the audience that he will “state only the truth and nothing but the truth.”

"Earlier, our armed forces kept waving a white flag in response to enemy bullets fired from across the border. We stopped this practice. Now our forces have standing orders to fire a bullet for a bullet,” he said.

In Kotdwar where he canvassed for BJP’s Pauri candidate Tirath Singh Rawat, Singh said, “In 2014, you gave a clear majority to the BJP and this time, we expect the same result. And the reason is that you have given a double engine government in Uttarakhand and one can see the pace of work in the state.”

At Jhabreda, his last election rally of the day where he campaigned for BJP’s Haridwar candidate Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Singh alleged that a “slander campaign” is going on against Prime Minister Modi. Attacking Congress president Rahul Gandhi for being ‘abusive’ towards the PM, Singh said that ‘prime minister’ is not just a post but an institution.

“He has been saying 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' while the reality is that Chowkidar is 'pure' and has no corruption charges against him. Therefore it is 'sure' that he will become PM again,” Singh said.

(With inputs from Prem Punetha, Tapan Susheel, Yogesh Kumar and PTI)