Belagavi: The surgical strikes carried out by India inside Pakistan after the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama had given the public the confidence that the nation's borders are safe under the Narendra Modi led BJP government, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said here on Sunday.

A determined government had responded fiercely to the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama in Kashmir between 2014 and 2019, he said.

"The BJP government carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan twice and eliminated terrorists there," Shah said.

These strikes gave confidence to the public that the nation's borders are safe because Modi is the Prime Minister and the country is ruled by the BJP, he said, speaking at the Janasevak Samavesha, a public meeting to greet BJP backed candidates who won the recent panchayat polls in Karnataka.

Out of a total of 5,670 villages, party backed candidates won in 3,142 villages, he said.

They bagged 45,000 of the total of 86,183 posts,Shah said.

Expressing gratitude to the electorate for reposing faith in the BJP, he urged them to help the party win the district and Taluk Panchayat elections too.

Shah said many things that had been put in the backburner for the last 70 years "out of fear,"like abrogation of Article 370 and 35(A) of the Constitution, abolition of triple talaq and laying the foundation stone for the Ram temple in Ayodhya had been accomplished by the Modi government.

Referring to the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive, launched nationwide on Saturday, he said both the indigenous vaccines Covaxin and Covishield are safe and the exercise was being monitored by the Prime Minister himself.

He also dwelt on the various welfare schemes initiated by the Modi government for the poor like Kisan Samman scheme, Ayushman Bharat, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Ujjwala scheme, housing scheme, broadband connectivity to villages and piped drinking water connection to every household by 2022.

He slammed the Congress for not eliminating poverty while in power, despite its call for 'Garibi Hatao' (eradicate poverty) decades ago.

"Why could poverty not be removed and why could the poor not get a gas and electricity connection, shelter and health scheme despite four generations of a family ruling the country? he asked.

Before attending the public meeting, Shah, along with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, visited the house of Suresh Angadi, the former Belagavi MP and Minister of State for Railways, who passed away due to coronavirus in 2019.

The union minister spoke to the family members and turned emotional while remembering his colleague.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, deputy chief ministers Govind Karjol, Laxman Savadi, union minister Pralhad Joshi, BJP national general secretaries Arun Singh and C T Ravi and other state ministers were also present at the public meeting.

Shah later met BJP office bearers of Belagavi district.

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Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.

The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).

"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.

The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.

The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.

Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.

They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.

Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.