Launching his party's Lok Sabha poll campaign in three states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday kept the focus on national security, terrorism and how his "decisive" government showed the courage to conduct a surgical strike in all spheres -- land, sky and space.
Modi addressed rallies in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Rudrapur in Uttarakhand and Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir--all part of Lok Sabha constituencies figuring in the first phase of the polls on April 11.
Modi also tore into the opposition parties by coining an acronym SARAB (alcohol') from the initial letters of the Samajwadi Party(SP), Rashtriya Lok Dal(RLD) and Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) alliance and urged people to stay away from SARAB' in the polls for the good health of Uttar Pradesh. The Hindi word for liquor is 'sharab'.
The remarks by Modi, who also termed the SP-RLD-BSP alliance in UP 'mahamilavat' (adulterated), drew a furious reaction from the Congress and the SP. Congress demanded an apology from Modi while SP chief Akhilesh Yadav accused him of spreading the "intoxication of hatred", saying the prime minister didn't know the difference between 'sharab' and 'sarab' (mirage).
Continuing his attack on the Congress, Modi accused it of raising questions on the valour of the armed forces after the post-Uri surgical strikes in 2016 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK) and later the air strikes in Balakot inside Pakistan in February.
The contest is between a "a decisive government and an indecisive past", Modi said at the BJP's Vijay Sankalp rally in the western UP town of Meerut, a day after announcing that India had demonstrated the anti-satellite missile capability by shooting down a live satellite to join an elite club of space super powers.
Calling himself the nation's 'chowkidar', Modi said, "It was this chowkidar's government that had the courage to conduct surgical strikes on land, sky and space. India should develop, India should be secure from enemies."
"You all saw how India created history yesterday by achieving a feat in space to ensure we emerge stronger globally and to ensure our safety. But see the kind of funny things people in the opposition have been saying."
Playing on the words 'saboot' and 'sapoot', the Hindi words for proof and good son, Modi attacked the opposition for seeking evidence of the surgical strikes. "Do we need 'saboot' or sapoot... those who seek evidence are challenging the sapoot."
Alleging that the Congress was the very cause of poverty, he asked people to eliminate the party. "Remove the Congress and poverty will go away automatically."
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