BJP leader JP Nadda

ALLAH/JEHANABAD: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader JP Nadda on Sunday lauded his party for building a “mazboot (strong)” government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has given the country the ability to penetrate the Pakistan border and destroy terrorist hideouts.

In contrast, the Congress-led UPA government, which was polluted in 2014, was “majboor, kamzor aur apang (powerless, weak and crippled)”, the former Union Minister charged.

Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Arar and Jehanabad constituencies in Bihar, Nadda mocked the UPA for “sending papers to Pakistan at a time when the country is reeling from terror attacks backed from across the border”.

“When Modi came to power, when Uri and Pulwama happened, our troops entered the Pakistan border, carried out surgical strikes and the Balakot airstrikes, and beat up terrorists inside their homes,” he said.

Nadda also hailed the government for scrapping Article 370, claiming it had “liberated the people of Jammu and Kashmir who had been held hostage to a handful of political families for years.”

“Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a record turnout in the ongoing elections. The enthusiasm of voters is a testimony to the liberating effect that the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution has had,” he asserted.

Nadda also attacked the BJP’s main rival in Bihar, the BJP’s ally the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying the party supported “rishwatkoli” (corruption), was “rashtra virodhi” (anti-national) and promoted “jungle raj” (lawlessness) whenever it came to power, being comparable to a “dal dal” (swamp).

Highlighting the improvement in living standards of the people under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, Nadda said, “Almost every home now has electricity. This is huge progress from the situation 10 years ago, when 25 million people had no access to electricity and only 18,000 villages had electrification.”

“Ten years ago, almost every mobile phone owned by an Indian was made in China, Taiwan, Japan or South Korea. Today, most mobile phones are made in India. 97 per cent of the mobile phones we use are made in India. This is an example of positive change,” he said.

Nadda said PM Modi did not just govern but brought about a fundamental change in the political culture of the country.

“The common man, who has become accustomed to apathy, is now firmly behind Modi to take forward his pledge of a ‘developed India’,” he said.

Nadda said the NDA had won a majority in the six general elections to date and was “on track to achieve our target of more than 400 seats”.

The BJP president has been on a whirlwind tour of the state, with eight seats going to polls in the final phase on June 1. He was scheduled to conclude his visit to the state with a rally in Nalanda Assembly constituency, named after the hometown of ally Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar.