"India Third After US, Israel To Counter Terror So Bravely": Amit Shah

BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday affirmed in a public meeting at Sitamarhi that it is the Modi government which has truly secured the borders of the country and made national security its foremost priority.

"The Prime Minister has taken effective steps to secure the borders of the country. In the regime of UPA-I and II, enemy forces used to run havoc in the country but no action was taken on that front," Mr Shah contended.

"In the recent past, our 40 security personnel lost their lives in the Pulwama attack by Pakistan-aided terrorism. Due to the decisive nature of PM Modi, our brave Indian Air Force (IAF) troops retaliated and entered enemy territory to debase their terror camps. India is only the third country after Israel and United States of America (USA) to have retaliated to terrorism in this brave manner," Mr Shah asserted.

"Sam Pitroda issued a statement that such a retaliation is unwarranted but is it a fair question by the opposition," Amit Shah asked the public. "One thing is clear that if Pakistan fires a bullet, we'll surely bomb them," he affirmed.

"Omar Abdullah said that Kashmir should have a different Prime Minister. It is very unfair and this shows their design that they want Kashmir to not be part of the nation. Till the date, BJP workers are alive, we will make sure that Kashmir is an integral part of India," Mr Shah said.

"In every corner of the country, people are not chanting the name of Prime Minister Modi without any reason. They are chanting PM Modi's name because he works for the poor with honesty and purpose. He has never taken a holiday since he became Gujarat's chief minister. He works 18 hours a day and takes tough decisions with sensitivity for the people," he said.

"8 crore households have got toilets, 2.5 crore houses have been made for the poor and 2.35 crore people have got electricity for the first time in their houses. Under Ayushman Bharat Yojana, 50 crore people have got the facility of getting upto Rs 5 Lakh for treatment of serious diseases, free of cost," he added.

"In the times of RJD and Congress rule, people were deprived of basic healthcare facilities. It is the BJP government which has taken credible steps towards alleviation of these problems," Mr Shah said.

The BJP President then elaborated the steps taken by the central and state government for the development of Bihar. "PM Modi has done a lot for the development of Bihar. The NDA government under Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi have freed Bihar from the lawlessness under the jungle raj of RJD rule," he said.

"Rahul Gandhi keeps asking PM Modi that what has been done in five years. In reality, Rahul Baba has no right to ask this as he did precious little for Bihar when his government was there. In the 13th Finance Commission under the UPA rule, Bihar got Rs 1.93 lakh crore. When PM Modi came in power, the NDA government gave above Rs 6.06 lakh crore to Bihar. What right does UPA have to question us?" Mr Shah said.

"The NDA government brought in 133 development schemes for the people of the country. We brought dignity for the backward and oppressed classes of the country. We also heard the plight of economically backward classes in the forward classes by giving them 10% reservation without affecting other classes," he said.

He specifically cited road and railway construction in North Bihar and of the inclusion of Sitamarhi in the Ramayan Circuit by the NDA government which includes a road to Nepal that was built from here.

Mr Shah talked about other development work done in Bihar and urged the public to vote for NDA and not the propagators of jungle raj.

Three phases of election are over in Bihar while four phases remain on April 29, May 6, 12 and 19. The counting of votes will be done on May 23.