Congress plan of tinkering with AFSPA will hit forces: PM Narendra Modi

Gajraula (Amroha): Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued to focus on nationalism and his record against terrorism, as he addressed election rallies in western Uttar Pradesh which is going to polls in the first phase next week. He said bomb blasts had stopped in the state after he became the Prime Minister and accused the Congress of intending to make the security forces helpless against terrorists by tinkering with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
Modi attended BJP’s election meetings in Amroha and Saharanpur, ahead of a joint rally planned by Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Ajit Singh at Deoband in Saharanpur on Sunday.

“The alliance (of SP, BSP and Rashtriya Lok Dal) wants to make Saharanpur its new laboratory. Earlier they had done this experiment in Muzzafarnagar in 2013 when the Samajwadi Party was in power in UP and the Congress in Delhi. Mayawati can forget those days due to her selfish interest but can the people of UP,” Modi said.

Referring to the Balakot air strikes, the PM asked who had entered the enemy’s home to strike at terrorists, even as he accused the alliance leaders of being “soft” on terror. “When the SP was in power in UP and the Congress in Centre, there were terror attacks in Ayodhya, Rampur, Varanasi and Lucknow. Police arrested the accused but the government, due to vote-bank politics, let such people go of. Haven’t these blasts stopped in UP since I became the PM? This is because terrorists know I won’t spare them,” he said.

Modi said the Congress promise in its “dhakosla-patra” to tinker with AFSPA in J&K would expose the security forces before terrorists, putting forward a strong contrast to his approach. “Should Modi protect the jawans or not? Congress is saying if it gets a chance it will talk to the protectors of terrorists and remove AFSPA. Shouldn’t soldiers get protective cover? Should we make them helpless before terrorists and stone-pelters? To get past Modi, such parties are out to destroy the country,” he said.

He also invoked Dalit leaders like Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram to say Congress never cared about these leaders in their lifetime. Imran Masood, Congress candidate from Saharanpur, remained on PM’s radar too after Yogi Adityanath had earlier termed him the “brother-inlaw of Masood Azhar”. Quoting Masood’s earlier ‘boti-boti’ comment against him, Modi said Masood was very close to Rahul Gandhi. “Boti boti karne wale beti ki nahin soch sakte – they will never let the triple talaq bill pass,” Modi said.