Fulfilled our promise of abrogating Art 370: Rajnath

Palamu (Jharkhand), Nov 24: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Sunday said that the BJP led central government, by abrogating Article 370,  fulfilled the dream of Syama Prasad Mookerjee (founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor to the BJP) and lived up to the party’s poll promise.

While addressing a public gathering in Jharkhand’s Palamu, Rajnath said, “Without any delay, we abrogated Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, when we got clear majority in Parliament. Now, there will not be two Constitutions in India, there will be no different flag for J-K.” “There’ll be only one PM in our country,” he added.

“In 1952, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee (founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor to the BJP) had said that there cannot be two Constitutions, two prime ministers and two flags in one country. We have fulfilled his dream and lived up to the promise made in our poll manifesto.”

Recalling his meeting with council of heads of government (CHG) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tashkent early this month, the union minister said, the world is “united to root out terrorism and except Kashmir, no big terror attacks had occurred in the rest of the country in the last five-and-a-half years.”

Condemning the Maoist violence over the past two days in the poll-bound state, he said, the BJP governments at the Centre and the state would give a befitting reply to those responsible for the attack.

“I have seen a couple of incidents happening in Jharkhand. You should be rest assured that the BJP governments at the Centre and the state will not allow anybody to use guns.”

Rajnath also noted that the Rafale fighter jets, acquired by the country from France, were capable of destroying “terror camps across the border.”

Amid “Jai Shree Ram” chants, he said, “A grand Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya and no power in the world can stop that from happening. The path for construction of the temple has been cleared by the Supreme Court.” 

“That is the power India has achieved under the Narendra Modi government,” the veteran BJP leader contended.

Accusing the Congress of “hoodwinking people” for votes since independence, Singh claimed that “the country would have been this powerful 30 years ago”, had the erstwhile governments kept the promises they made to the people.

Rajnath Singh praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that his chest measures 65 inches and not 56 inches as people say. “In 2019 election, I was responsible for preparing election manifesto. I used to talk to the Prime Minister directly about these things and he said – don’t worry, we will fulfil everything,” he said.

“Log Kehte Hain 56 Inch Kaa Seena Hai PM Ka/Mai Kehta Hun Kahin Mapne Me Gadbadi Ho Gayee Hogi/Wo 56 Ki Bajai Shayad 65 Inch Ka Hoga (People say PM’s chest measures 56-inch. I say there must have been a mistake in measurement. The PM’s chest probably measures 65 inches instead of 56 inches),” added Singh.

He also reminded that the Central government abrogated the Triple Talaq Bill. Seeking to portray his party with strong anti-corruption credentials, the Defence Minister claimed that no one can accuse the Jharkhand government or the Central government of corruption.

The Defence Minister recalled the various welfare schemes of the state and Central government and stressed that the nation needs “strong leadership.”

Jharkhand will go to polls in five phases from November 30. The first phase of polling will be held on November 30, the second phase on December 6, the third phase on December 12, the fourth phase on December 16 and the last phase on December 20. (With inputs from ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)