Defence Min Rajnath Singh said that India is standing tall before the world ever since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power at the Centre.
Addressing a public rally in Kapkot in poll-bound Uttarakhand, Singh said, “Earlier when India spoke on global platforms, world didn’t listen carefully. Today, when India speaks on the global platform, the whole world pays attention.”
Singh also hit out at the Congress for scrapping special status accorded to Uttarakhand by later prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“Atal Bihari Vajpayee accorded special status to Uttarakhand. But when Congress came to power in the state and Centre, it stripped the state off the special status. When PM Modi came to power, he reinstated the status,” he said.
“Congress should be questioned why did they scrap the special status accorded to Uttarakhand by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. What was its crime? Still, people of the state showed your large-heartedness and formed Congress government in the state from time to time,” he added.
Uttarakhand, where no party has been in power for two consecutive terms, will go to polls on February 14 in a single phase. The counting of votes will be done on March 10.
In the previous Assembly polls in 2017, the BJP registered a thumping victory by winning 56 seats while Congress managed to bag 11 seats in the 70-member house.