'Dhaakad' Government Has Replaced Bomb In Pak Hands With Begging Bowl: PM

Making a strong pitch for re-electing a "strong" government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that bombs in Pakistan's hands have now been replaced by a "begging bowl". 

The PM's comments come in the wake of an old video of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar surfacing in which he is heard saying India should give respect to Pakistan because it has an atom bomb, and a similar remark by Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, which is also an INDIA bloc member.

Addressing a rally in Haryana's Ambala on Saturday, PM Modi said in Hindi, "When the country has a 'dhaakad' (strong) government, even the enemy thinks 100 times before doing anything. You can see that the same Pakistan which was troubling India for 70 years and held bombs in its hands, now holds a 'bheenkh ka katora' (begging bowl). When there is a 'dhaakad' government, this is how the enemy trembles."

Continuing in the same vein, PM Modi asked whether a weak government would have been able to change the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. 

"Think back to those days when there was a Congress government and courageous mothers in Haryana would remain worried all the time about an explosion being triggered by terrorists or a stone thrown (by protesters) injuring our soldiers. It's been 10 years now and, hasn't all this stopped," he asked the crowds, adding, "Modi's 'dhaakad' government demolished the wall of Article 370, and Jammu and Kashmir is now on the path of development.

Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated in 2019. 

In an old video that surfaced recently, Congress' Mani Shankar Aiyar had said, "India should give respect to Pakistan as it has an atom bomb. If we don't give them respect, they will think of using an atom bomb against India... You should talk to them. But, instead, we are flexing our military might."

National Conference chief and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had also said in the first week of May that Pakistan is not wearing bangles and could drop atom bombs on India. He had said this in response to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's comment that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir would be merged with India.

The leaders' statements had invited attacks from the BJP, including from PM Modi, who had said India would make Pakistan wear bangles. The PM and other BJP leaders had also said the statements were proof of weak governments run by INDIA constituents in the past. 

All 10 seats in Haryana will vote in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 25.