Rajnath mocks Opposition unity; reaches out to Akali Dal, says we still love them

Reacting to the Opposition political parties’ statements claiming that “democracy was in danger in India”, the minister elaborated on how he and several others had to stay in jail during the Emergency.

On the occasion, he praised Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and said, “I do not know why Shiromani Akali Dal quit NDA, but I would like to say it that even if anybody leaves NDA, we still love them and respect them.”

Rajnath appreciated Amarinder Singh, Punjab’s former chief minister and a former Congress leader (currently in BJP), and recalled how the Union government always got full support from Amarinder to protect the country’s borders and said that “it was not the case these days”, in an apparent reference to non-cooperation from the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government of Punjab.

Targeting the Congress party, the Union minister said that Kartarpur Sahib is just four-five kilometers from Punjab, but when the country was partitioned, if the people of Congress had not been in a hurry, Kartarpur Sahib would have been part of India during that time. If anyone understood this pain for the first time then it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and today Kartarpur Sahib is accessible.

In his 30-minute address, Rajnath described the development works and schemes by the Modi government during the last nine years and said that a few years ago, India was not taken seriously at international events, but today the whole world listens to what India is saying.

On Uri and Pulwama incident, he said that when the incidents took place, “I was the home minister at that time and I along with few others were called by PM Modi, and in 10 minutes decision was taken. Our soldiers attacked the terrorists not only in our territory but also in the territory of Pakistan”.
Stating that India is now a “Stronger India”, the minister said that “we Indians are fortunate that India convened G20 leaders’ summit for the first time in 2023, which is a pride moment for us”.

About the BJP, he said that whatever they had promised in the election manifesto in the past, they had fulfilled. “What we say, we do that.”
“We had promised that when we form our government, we will remove Article 370 (on Jammu and Kashmir), and we did that. We had promised in our manifesto that at Ayodhya, Ram Mandir will be constructed. Since 1984, we have been promising it in our manifesto, and you can see that the Ram Mandir is being constructed now,” he said.

Rajnath said that now under the Modi government, “if 100 paise are sent from Delhi’s bank, then 100 out of 100 paise reach the pocket of the general public”. He said that as per Morgen Stanley report, “the day is not far when India will be in the top 3 economies of the world by 2027”.
He sought people’s support for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to ensure that “BJP makes India the most powerful nation by 2047 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to serve the nation for the coming years”.
‘Governor an institution’

On the ongoing confrontation between Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, and Government Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that Governor is an institution and all constitutional posts should be respected.

During an informal interaction with the media at the BJP state office in Chandigarh, Rajnath said that the situation of law and order in Punjab is of serious concern, as it is a border state. “Punjab government should function with Central government for betterment of state.”

He said that the Bill on giving the post of chancellor of universities to the Chief Minister instead of Governor was not correct. An attempt was made to do the same in Bengal, but the Governor did not approve that Bill.
On students leaving India and moving to other countries, the Defence Minister said that the ratio of students and people moving abroad for settlement has reduced now.

Asked about the alliance with Akalis in Punjab, Rajnath said that he could not say anything about it as it is for the party to decide, but he also made it clear that relations do not end.

‘People are losing lives in Manipur’

The Aam Aadmi Party has reacted to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement regarding law and order in Punjab. AAP Punjab’s chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang countered the Defence Minister’s statement saying that Rajnath Singh is worried about Punjab but oblivious to the situation in Manipur.

In a statement issued from the party headquarters on Saturday, Kang said that Rajnath should focus on controlling the volatile situation and violence in Manipur before making a statement on the law and order situation in Punjab.
Kang said that violence is widespread in Manipur, people are losing lives. Hundreds of people have died so far and thousands have become homeless, but the BJP’s central minister is doing politics to defame the non-BJP-ruled states.

Advising the BJP leaders, Kang said that right now a state of our country is burning, but instead of extinguishing that fire, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone on a foreign tour for his personal publicity.
At the same time, the Home Minister is holding election rallies and the rest of the ministers are busy criticising the Opposition parties. While looking at the current situation in Manipur, all Cabinet ministers, including the Prime Minister, should have focused their attention on stopping the violence in Manipur.