PM Modi says India is in safe hands after IAF strikes JeM camp in Balakot

Appealing to the people to bring back the BJP to power, he said his government’s policy interventions should speak for themselves

Hours after Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets bombed Jaish-e-Mohammed’s training camp in Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made no effort to hide the fact that he and his government were taking political credit for the strikes.

“Aaj aapkamijazkucchaur lag raha hai (you seem to be in a somewhat different mood),” he told the audience while speaking at a rally in Rajasthan’s Churu on Tuesday.

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After calls of Bharat Mata ki jai, Modi said “you can rest assured, this country is in safe hands” and then folded his hands. “I pledge upon this sacred soil, I will not let the country die, I will not allow the country to be stopped, I will not let the country bow its head. It is my promise to Mother India, I will protect your honour,” he said to the wildly cheering crowd.

This poem, which he himself has written and used to great effect in 2014, set his speech firmly against the backdrop of the IAF strike. He, however, never directly referred to Pakistan, Jaish-e-Mohammed or India’s strikes across the border.

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Appealing to the people to bring back the BJP to power (the party won all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in 2014), he said his government’s policy interventions should speak for themselves and took a swipe at the Congress government in the state. “It is very unfortunate that not a single farmer from Rajasthan and Churu has got any money,” he said, referring to the scheme of direct transfer of funds to small farmers. “Do you know why? Because the state government has not even sent a list of the farmers. They are not cooperating with the Centre. Within the next 10 years, ~7.5 trillion will be deposited in the accounts of farmers. They will not have to do anything for it. They will directly get a notification on their mobile phones, saying that they have received the amount. My government has made the impossible, possible. The state government must not hinder the Centre’s support to farmers,” he said. Emphasising why it was important to bring the BJP back to power, he said: “India needs a strong government and I am sure that your vote this time will give us even more strength to carry on our work to take India to new heights.”