New Delhi: Amidst the continuing standoff with China in Ladakh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Modi government is fully alert towards securing each inch of the country's land and no one can take it away.
Shah also said the government is taking all possible military and diplomatic steps to resolve the standoff in Ladakh with China.
"We are vigilant for every inch of our land, no one can take it away...Our defence forces and leadership are capable of defending the country's sovereignty and border," he told CNN News18 when asked about the current standoff with China in Ladakh.
The home minister also said that the government is committed to protecting the sovereignty and security of the country. Referring to the coming Bihar elections, Shah expressed confidence that the NDA will get a two-third majority.
He said Nitish Kumar will be the next chief minister of the state after the polls.
The home minister said there will be a change of government in West Bengal after next year's assembly elections and a BJP government will assume power there.
"We feel we will have a determined fight in West Bengal and we will form the government," he said.
He also said that the law and order situation in West Bengal is serious and political parties like the BJP have every right to seek imposition of President's rule there.
"The central government will take an appropriate decision taking into account the Constitution and on the basis of the governor's report," he said.
When asked whether the BJP will stake claim for the chief ministership in Bihar if the saffron party gets more seats than the ally JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar, he said "There is no if or but. Nitish Kumar will be the next chief minister of Bihar. We have made a public announcement and we are committed to it."
Talking about the Lok Janshakti Party breaking away from the ruling alliance in Bihar, Shah said the party was offered adequate seats but still walked away from the alliance.
"It was their (LJP) decision, not ours," he said.
Asked to comment about the incident of alleged gang-rape and murder of a woman at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, Shah slammed the opposition for indulging in politics over it and said all accused were arrested on the day of the incident and a CBI inquiry is already under progress.
"There was a rape in Hathras and a similar incident had taken place in Rajasthan. But politics is centered around Hathras only. No one raised the incident of Rajasthan. The accused (in Hathras) were caught on the same day. A committee has been constituted to probe it...the CBI is also probing it. There should not be politics on it," he said.
Asked about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir a year after the abrogation of Article 370, the home minister said law and order in the Union territory is normal now even though there was a challenge due to the COVID-19 situation.
"(New Lieutenant Governor) Manoj Sinha ji is there now and he will ensure that development reaches the last man. You will see major development there in 5-6 months," he said.
Shah also asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi to publicly endorse party leader and former home minister P Chidambaram's statement that the special status of Jammu and Kashmir should be restored.
Asked about allegations of drug menace in Bollywood, Shah said he does not want to link the two.
"I think drugs and Bollywood should not be seen together. Drugs are a menace and should be ended soon. We have taken many strong steps in the past and are going to strengthen law and infrastructure to check it.
"You will see a big change in the coming days when it comes to probing infrastructure, legal provisions and manpower for eradicating the menace of drugs from the country," he said.
The home minister also appealed to the people to follow the prime minister's advice on COVID-19.
"Till there is a medicine, we all should follow the prime minister's advice to wash hands, keep distance and wear masks," he said.
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Jaipur, Mar 28: Young Riyan Parag showed why he is considered a precocious talent as he struck a stunning 84 not out off 45 balls to set up a 12-run win for Rajasthan Royals against Delhi Capitals in their IPL match here on Thursday.
Sent in to bat, RR were reduced to 36 for 3 in the eighth over but the 22-year-old Parag single-handedly took the home side to 185 for 5 with a magnificent unbeaten knock studded with seven fours and six sixes.
Parag, who was promoted to number 4 by the team management this season and made 43 in the previous match, took 25 runs off veteran South African pacer Anrich Nortje with scores of 4, 4, 6, 4, 6, 1 in the final over to hit his highest T20 score.
Chasing 186 for a win, DC could only manage 173 for 5 in 20 overs though South African youngster Tristan Stubbs (44 not out off 23 balls) kept them in the hunt till the final over from which they needed 17 runs.
Avesh Khan conceded just four runs to help RR win their second consecutive match.
South African pacer Nandre Burger and Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets apiece to also contribute in the RR win.
"Definitely disappointed. The best thing to do from here is to learn from it. The bowlers did well through the 15-16 overs. But the batters did well at the death, hopefully we do better in the next game," DC skipper Rishabh Pant said.
DC were reduced to 34 for 2 in the fourth over with Burger taking two wickets in three balls in a fine display of fast bowling.
Burger, who was brought in as Impact Sub for Shimron Hetmyer, dismissed opener Mitchell Marsh (23 off 12 balls) and Ricky Bhui (0) in the fourth over.
DC captain Rishabh Pant came out to bat at the fall of Bhui's wicket and along with senior batter David Warner built the innings without taking too much risk. Delhi were 89 for 2 at the halfway stage.
Warner was the more aggressive one as he got the boundaries to keep DC in the hunt. The senior Australian batter fell one run short of his fifty courtesy a brilliant diving catch by Sandeep Sharma off the bowling of Avesh in the 12th over.
Warner and Pant were involved in a crucial 67-run partnership for the third wicket.
Playing in his 100th IPL match and 14 months after a horrible car crash, Pant tried to build the innings with occasional boundaries. But he got out for a 26-ball 28 as Chahal induced a faint lower edge for Sanju Samson to do the rest behind the stumps in the 14th over.
The asking rate shot up to more than 13 runs an over and DC needed 66 from the last five overs.
Stubbs kept DC in the game with two consecutive sixes off Ravichandran Ashwin in the 17th over, but in the end the Delhi side were short by 12 runs.
They needed 34 runs from the final two overs which they could not get. It was DC's second consecutive loss.
Earlier, Parag shared 54 and 52 runs respectively with Ravichandran Ashwin (29) and Dhruv Jurel (20) after RR made a shaky start.
Royals captain Samson struck three consecutive boundaries in the fourth over bowled by pacer Mukesh Kumar before nicking a Khaleel Ahmed delivery two overs later to Pant to get out for 15.
RR were 30 for 2 by then as Mukesh had given DC their first breakthrough with the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal (5).
The Royals were in more trouble after wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav literally forced his captain Pant to take a review, which later proved to be successful, to dismiss Englishman Jos Buttler for an LBW decision.
Ashwin came out to bat at number five and he lofted a Kuldeep delivery for a six to help RR reach 58 for 3 at halfway stage. He gave Nortje even a harsher treatment with two sixes in the next over that yielded 15 runs.
Ashwin, however, holed out to Tristan Stubbs near the boundary ropes for a 19-ball 29.
Parag then made his presence felt, striking two boundaries and a six off Ahmed to take RR past 100 in the 15th over.