Rajnath slams former Punjab CM Channi’s ‘election stunt’ remark on Poonch attack
Corporal Vikky Pahade was killed, and four IAF personnel were injured after armed terrorists attacked a convoy of the force at Lassana Top in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district
Bhubaneshwar: Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday came down heavily on former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who alleged that the terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy at Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir was an election stunt.
Addressing a public gathering at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi on Wednesday, Singh said, “Recently, a jawan of the Indian Air Force was martyred. But our jawan, displaying courage and valour, neutralised two terrorists immediately. Congress leader Charanjit Singhji Channi said that it (the terrorist act) was an election stunt. Will we get our army soldiers attacked? What are these people trying to do with the security and self-esteem of the nation? Congress has always been involved in negative politics.”
Channi on Sunday alleged that the terror attack on the IAF convoy was an “election stunt” and “orchestrated” by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to bolster its prospects in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Poonch goes to the polls on May 25 as part of the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency.
Corporal Vikky Pahade was killed, and four IAF personnel were injured after armed terrorists attacked a convoy of the force at Lassana Top in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district on Saturday (May 4).
In his address, Singh said that earlier terrorist attacks would take place in almost every state across the country, but since the BJP came to power (in 2014), terrorism has almost been wiped out.
“After our government came to power, terrorism almost stopped in the country, barring some minor incidents. This (Poonach attack) was also an act of terrorism”, he said.
Singh further said that under the BJP-led government, a lot of development work has taken place in the country in 10 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
Also Read: Another Congress leader raises questions on Poonch attack: ‘BJP can do anything for elections’
“Earlier, NGOs used to come to Kalahandi as part of some tourism and write articles about its poverty. The Congress was in power here for long. Be it Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi or Manmohan Singh (former Prime Ministers of India), all of them only claimed to eradicate poverty. The Congress ruled the country for decades, but poverty could not be eliminated. After PM Narendra Modi came to power, the Centre has been able to uplift over 25 crore (250 million) people from poverty. The PM’s resolve is that no place remains out of the focus of development because we want India to be a developed country. Unless all regions are developed, the Viksit Bharat dream will not be realised,” Singh said.
He added, as far as social welfare schemes are concerned, there will be no poor in the country in the next 10 to 15 years, and not a single family will be left without a pucca house, drinking water or cooking gas in the next five years.
The Lok Sabha elections are taking place from 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases to elect 543 members. The counting of votes will take place on 4 June 2024.
