PoK 'was, is and will remain ours': Rajnath Singh
Ballia/Lucknow (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday asserted that PoK "was, is and will remain ours" while also hitting out at the opposition parties for raking up the China issue.
During another poll rally later in the day in Lucknow, from where he is contesting, Singh said, "These elections are also to see who has raised the country's stature in the world."
Accusing the opposition parties of spreading confusion on the China issue, he said, "India has not lost anything. We will not let India lose anything. Talks are ongoing ... we are confident that a solution will be found."
Addressing an election rally in Ballia's Sikandarpur in support of the BJP's Salempur candidate Ravindra Kushwaha, Singh also asserted, "Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) was ours, is ours and will remain ours."
ALSO READ: PoK belongs to India, we will take it back at any cost: Amit Shah
Elaborating on his statement during the Lucknow rally, Singh said, "I had said three years ago that we don't need to attack (anyone) to capture PoK. One day, people there will themselves demand to join India. You must have seen that such a situation has been created there today."
"I would like to appeal to international human rights bodies to see how people in PoK are being harassed," the defence minister added.
He was accompanied by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.
Singh claimed that after four phases of elections, political analysts not only in India but across the world believe that the BJP is going to form the government by winning more than 400 seats.
He also launched an attack on INDIA bloc partners AAP, Samajwadi Party and the Congress and committed to implementing a uniform civil code.
"We will implement a uniform civil code, that is our commitment. We do not work against any religion. Everyone living in the country -- be it Hindus, Muslims, Christians or Jews -- are our brothers. I am talking about a uniform civil code because it is one of the policy-making principles of the Constitution," he said.
Attacking the opposition parties over claims that Modi is seeking 400 seats in the Lok Sabha so that the BJP can change the Constitution, Singh recalled the Emergency period under the Congress rule and said, "You strangled democracy and are blaming us. No one can end democracy."
"I want to tell political parties that politics should not be done just to form a government but to build a nation," he said in Lucknow. "I am asking for your votes not just to become an MP but because we want to build the nation and raise its stature in the world."
The defence minister accused the Samajwadi Party and the Congress of making whatever allegations that come to their minds against the BJP.
"The bicycle's (the Samajwadi Party election symbol) chain has come off," he said.
He also compared the Congress with dinosaurs and said the grand old party will become extinct.
"The condition of the Congress has become so weak that if after 10 years you say 'Congress', people will ask 'who Congress?' Just as dinosaurs became extinct from the face of the earth, the Congress will become extinct from India," Singh said.
He also hit out at AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged assault on party MP Swati Maliwal at his residence.
Talking about the development of Lucknow, Singh said, "I have done whatever was possible for the development of Lucknow and I can say that Lucknow has entered the world's top 10 cities in terms of development."
Adityanath mentioned the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and the development of the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and said the nation has been secured in the 10 years under Modi.
He pointed to terror attacks during previous governments and criticised the opposition for "politics of appeasement".
"I want to warn you about the people of the INDI alliance as they have set their eyes on your property," the chief minister said.
Singh and Adityanath also appealed to the electorate to vote for OP Srivastav, the BJP candidate for the assembly bypoll in Lucknow East.
The seat became vacant following the death of incumbent MLA Ashutosh Tandon.
Polling in Lucknow will take place on May 20. Salempur goes to the polls in the last phase of the elections on June 1.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
NCB seizes over 39 kgs of Alprazolam in Telangana; three arrested
Hyderabad (PTI): A gang allegedly manufacturing and trafficking Alprazolam drug in bulk quantity illegally in Siddipet district of Telangana has been busted, NCB officials said on Sunday.
Three people, including a Chemist freelancer, have been arrested in this regard, they added.
As much as 39.470 kgs of Alprazolam worth around Rs 12 crore and Rs 85.36 lakhs in cash were seized on May 15, the Hyderabad Zonal Unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said in a release.
On the basis of specific information, NCB officials intercepted two four-wheelers and two persons when they were exchanging Alprazolam illegally without any valid license.
The search resulted in the recovery of 39.470 kgs of Alprazolam and Rs 85,36,200 in cash, found to be proceeds of Alprazolam sales, it said.
On the basis of a disclosure made by one of the accused about the supplier of the Alprazolam, NCB officials apprehended another person from Hyderabad.
On interrogation, it was revealed that the person who supplied the drug had studied MSc Chemistry. He is working as a chemist freelancer, and he disclosed that he manufactured the seized Alprazolam clandestinely in his laboratory at Prashantnagar here, the NCB said.
All three persons "confessed to their involvement in manufacturing and trafficking of Alprazolam illegally" and were arrested under the relevant sections of the NDPS Act 1985.
Preliminary investigation suggested that they transacted around 150 kgs of Alprazolam over the last five years.
All three accused were produced before the magistrate and sent to judicial custody. Further investigation is ongoing, the release added.
