Hitting out at the opposition for raking up the Balakot air strike and Pulwama terror attack issues, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that "PM Narendra Modi ne ghar mein ghus kar maara hai (attacked Pakistan on its turf)" and the BJP-led central government has transformed the situation in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.
In 2019, after the Pulwama terror attack -- which killed over 40 CRPF personnel -- the Indian Air Force carried out an airstrike against a Pakistani terror camp in Balakot.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Mr Shah attacked Congress for not giving a concrete reply to Pakistan for the bomb blasts that occurred during the 10 years of the Manmohan Singh-led government.
Responding to comments by some opposition leaders, including Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut, Home Minister Shah said, "Had they seen Pakistan's reaction after the surgical strike and air strike, they would not have said this. They have such a petty mindset that they are misleading people as if nothing has happened. So many bomb blasts occurred during 10 years of the Sonia-Manmohan government. Was any concrete reply given for any of them? What did you do? You did not even oppose it for fear of losing your minority vote bank."
"Narendra Modi ne ghar mein ghus kar maara hai. The BJP government has transformed the situation in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. We have taken strict measures, and as a result, those who didn't follow India's Constitution have now voted in the elections two days back," the Home Minister said.
Highlighting the voter turnout in the Jammu and Kashmir general elections that took place on Monday, Mr Shah said, "During Farooq Abdullah's regime, there used to be 7-10 per cent voting but it touched 36 per cent the day before. For the first time, 35 per cent of the migrant Kashmiri Pandits cast their votes."
When asked why the BJP does not contest from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, the Home Minister said that they will contest elections when the organisation becomes strong in that area.
"We accept that our organisation is not strong there as of now. We are expanding it. When the organisation becomes fit, we will contest elections and I am confident that we will win," he said.
The Srinagar constituency, where the first general election was held after the abrogation of Article 370 in J-K, recorded 38.49 per cent voting, according to the Information and PR Department, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This is the highest voter turnout in several decades.
Voting took place in the districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, and Pulwama, and partly in Budgam and Shopian districts at around 2,135 polling stations across the Srinagar parliamentary constituency with 6,700 migrant voters exercising their voting rights.
Voting for the Udhampur and Jammu seats was concluded on April 19 and 26 respectively while in Srinagar voting was done on May 13.
Baramulla seat will vote on May 20 and the Anantnag-Rajouri seat on May 25.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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