Modi flays opposition over surgical strikes, Mission Shakti

Meerut, March 28 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the opposition parties for raising questions over India's air strikes against Pakistan and its capabilities in the space.

"The country has seen many governments which believed in sloganeering but for the first time it has seen a decisive government which knows how to fulfil its commitments," Modi said as he launched his campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.

"Be it land or sky or space, the government of your 'chowkidar' has shown courage to conduct surgical strikes," he added.

Modi's reference was to the bombing by the Indian Air Force of a terrorist camp in Pakistan on February 26 and Wednesday's launch of an Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile that destroyed a satellite orbiting 268 km above the earth.

The Prime Minister said that by raising questions over the government's actions, some opposition leaders had become a "hero" in Pakistan.

"People have to decide whether they need a hero of India or a hero of Pakistan. They have to decide whether they need 'saboot' (proof) or 'sapoot' (hero). Those seeking 'saboot' are challenging the 'sapoot'," he said.

Taking potshots at Congress President Rahul Gandhi over his 'theatre jibe' at the Prime Minister after the Anti-Satellite missile launch, Modi said some opposition leaders didn't even know the difference between a theatre set and A-SAT.

"Yesterday when I was speaking about A-SAT, he got confused. In theatre you see sets being shifted... He thought I was talking about that set... What do you say about someone who does not even know the difference between a theatre set and an A-SAT?"

Modi said scientists wanted a test to shoot down a satellite in space, but the previous Congress government postponed that decision also.

"To make the India of 21st century strong and for its security, this decision should have been taken a long ago. But it kept getting delayed," he said.

Slamming the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in Uttar Pradesh as political opportunism, Modi said to defeat the BJP, the old enemies have now become friends.

"From '2 ladke' its now 'bua-bhatija'. This just shows that for these people there is no bigger target than power," he said, adding that crime will again go up if people voted for the two parties.

The Prime Minister said the 2019 election was a fight between "dumdaar" BJP and a "daagdaar" opposition.

"Under these 'mahamilaavati' (adulterated) group of leaders, did you see how terrorists flourished? Did you not see incidents of terror from across the country under their rule? So, tell me, can you trust such people?"

Modi said the country had decided to again vote for a BJP government "because here is a decisive government which has delivered on every front".

This is Modi's first election rally for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since the announcement of the April-May Lok Sabha polls by the Election Commission.