PM attacks opposition parties at Arunachal rally, says they are disheartened by India's growth
Aalo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked the people of Arunachal Pradesh to vote for a 'chowkidar' who would provide security to the country even as he attacked Opposition parties, saying they were "disheartened" by India's growth and success.
Kicking off his campaign here for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Arunachal, the prime minister said Arunachal is a "shield for the country with the people zealously guarding the border as sentinels".
Attacking the Congress, Modi said the grand old party is "synonymous with corruption" and has the habit to take people of the country for a ride.
"Whenever the country makes achievements, don't you feel happy? Everyone, irrespective of their social and financial status, regales at India's success stories. There are, however, some who feel disheartened by India's growth and success," the PM said.
"When India hit terrorists in their houses, what was the stand of opposition parties, you have all seen. Even when our scientists made achievements, they found excuses to belittle them," the PM said, urging the people to "punish" opposition parties in the upcoming elections.
He also thanked the people of the state for voting the double-engine government of the BJP to power at the Centre and the state.
"In the northeast, the lotus first bloomed in Arunachal. It is because of your support, the Centre has been able to bring about development in the state," he said.
Listing his government's achievements, the PM said the Centre has provided power connection to 50,000 families, gas connection to 40,000 mothers and sisters and built toilets for over 1 lakh families in the last five years.
"Our government has honoured your hopes, aspirations. This watchman was given the opportunity to bring Arunachal on the country's railway map after seven decades of Independence," he said
Referring to the Arun Prabha channel, launched recently, the PM said it will ensure that people across the country get to learn about Arunachal, its people, culture and festivals.
"Arunachal, which is set to hold Mopin festival soon, will be able to tell the world about its festival and culture through the recently launched Arun Prabha channel," he stated.
Election to Lok Sabha and Assembly will be held on April 11.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
