15 surgical strikes took place under Cong rule, but it never talked about it: Ashok Gehlot
Ajmer (Raj), Mar 13: Accusing the Modi government of "politicising" actions of defence forces, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday claimed 15 surgical strikes took place during the Congress rule, but the then dispensation never talked about it.
He said former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had made huge contributions for the nation, but the Modi government has never highlighted the same and instead defamed the Gandhi family.
"The countrymen are innocent. They think that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got the surgical strikes done, but 15 surgical strikes have taken place earlier. Under the Congress rule, surgical strikes took place 15 times, but it was never said that such action has taken place," Gehlot told reporters here.
He said it was not a standard thing (on part of the government) to highlight such developments.
"Modi became the prime minister and satellites were launched by ISRO, but it was presented as if the satellites were launched only in his rule. It took years for former prime minister Indira Gandhi to make ISRO and hundreds of satellites were launched," the Congress leader said.
The chief minister said Modi has also not acknowledged the fact that Indira Gandhi created the nation of Bangladesh by dividing Pakistan and without letting Khalistan take shape.
"Jawaharlal Nehru was in jail for 12 years for independence. But what are they (BJP) circulating about him on social media? BJP and RSS are conspiring and spending crores of rupees to run a campaign to defame the Congress and its legacy," he alleged.
Taking a dig at Modi, Gehlot said the prime minister should have been an actor.
"He should have become a Bollywood actor. Movies have actors, actresses, villain...they talk about love and affection and the audiences are amused, but movies have no reality and the love and affection shown there is not true," he said.
"He (Modi) would have been successful in the country and abroad had he come in this role because as a prime minister, I do not consider him successful...let the world say anything," the chief minister remarked.
Gehlot was in Ajmer to offer a 'chadar' (sacred cloth) on behalf of Congress president Rahul Gandhi at the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti here.
He said the prime minister has been exposed among the public for not fulfilling the promises he made during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
"No black money was brought back. He has forgotten that he had promised jobs to 2 crore people. Inflation is skyrocketing, petrol and diesel prices are now almost equal. 'Make in India' is only on papers. People see no smart city. The entire government turned out to be unsuccessful and useless," he said.
The senior Congress leader also accused the BJP of doing politics in the name of religion.
"There should be issue-based politics in elections," he added.
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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.
