"Thought he may go to Karachi or Lahore...", Rajnath Singh's dig at Rahul's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'
Nandagad (KTK), Mar 2: Accusing the Congress of raising questions over the valour of armed forces, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said, its 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was aimed at "launching" their leader Rahul Gandhi, and he thought that the latter may go to Karachi or Lahore as part of the march.
Kick-starting the second part of BJP's 'Vijay Sankapla Yatre' here, he appealed to the people to support the party in the Assembly elections, due by May, to form a government with two-third majority.
The yatre from four different directions across the poll-bound State, in specially designed vehicles or "Rathas", are being launched by the party's central leaders in parts. The first part was launched by BJP National President J P Nadda in Chamarajanagara district on Wednesday.
"Do you know about the young Congress leader, he is being launched now, and for that they had the Bharat Jodo Yatra. India got divided during partition in 1947, so I thought Rahul Gandhi who was on Bharat Jodo Yatra may go to Karachi or Lahore, but he did not go there," Singh said.
Addressing a public meeting here, he asked as to who did Gandhi try to jodo (unite), when the whole of India is united and together.
"One cannot do politics for long by fooling people, only those who do politics with confidence and maintaining eye contact with the people can be successful, and only those in the BJP can do it," he said, as he hit out at the Congress accusing them of using slogans, 'Modi theri kabr khudegi' (Modi your grave will be dug).
"They are not digging Modi's grave, but are digging their own with such slogans. The amount of mud slinging that our Congress friends engage in against BJP and PM Modi, our Lotus will boom that much," Singh said.
Charging the Congress with raising questions on the courage and valour of our defence forces, he asked, "what happened to them?....As the Defence Minister I want to say, we are proud of our Military forces, the kind of brave deeds they have done, if I say it openly, you will be even more proud."
Earlier in the day, Singh visited Sangolli Rayanna's memorial here and paid respects, following which he launched the Yatre.
Sangolli Rayanna (1798-1831) was the army chief of the erstwhile Kittur Kingdom ruled by Rani Chennamma and fought against the British who hanged him to death from a Banyan tree near Nandagad in Belagavi district in 1831.
Singh said, this day and this public meeting is good for the BJP as election results for three north eastern states are being declared today, and among them in Tripura and Nagaland the party is forming the government once again, while in Meghalaya it has increased the number of seats.
The Defence Minister called on the people to take a resolve to form a BJP government in the state once again, and this time with two-third majority, to build a "New Karnataka".
Pointing out that after the 2018 Assembly polls as there was no clear majority to any party, BJP could not serve the state for the entire five years term, Singh said, "it is the wish of the party and its leadership that this time we should get two-third majority in Karnataka and form the government."
The party veteran from the state B S Yediyurappa has also said that he will put his entire strength and work for BJP getting two-third majority, he said, "if BJP is given a mandate for full five years, no one can stop Karnataka from becoming the number one state in south of India."
Noting that Yediyurappa, citing his age and health reasons, decided to quit as CM (in July 2021), Singh said, with his consent Basavaraj Bommai was made the CM.
"When the son of this soil, Yediyurappa resigned voluntarily after serving the state for long, it had to be respected. When Yediyurappa, who has high stature in the party decided to quit as CM, PM Modi and the entire Parliamentary Board decided to make him the member of the Parliamentary Board, which is the highest decision making body," he said, adding that Yediyurappa's service can never be forgotten.
Highlighting various initiatives of the Modi-led government in the state for the development and progress of Karnataka, the Defence Minister spoke about HAL manufacturing helicopters in Tumakuru, opening of new Airports, and industrial corridors.
Claiming that BJP always walks the talk and fulfills the commitment made to the people, he pointed to abrogation of Article 370, and abolition of 'teen talaq", among others, as he also listed boost to UPI transaction and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) among the achievements of Modi government.
He also highlighted India's growing stature globally and it emerging as an economic power, under the current BJP dispensation at the Centre.
Averring that the BJP government under Modi will not tolerate terrorism and those supporting it, he said, as part of this PFI was banned.
The Defence Minister also said that India now produces bombs, tanks, missiles among various other ammunitions required for national security within the country and no longer imports them to the extent earlier. "We are now into Make in India and Make for the World"
While Singh flagged off second yatre today from Nandagad, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is slated to launch the third and fourth yatre from Basavakalyana in Bidar district and Avathy in Devanahalli near Bengaluru, on March 3, in the morning and afternoon, respectively.
According to party leaders, more than 50 state and national leaders will take part in this campaign, which will cover all 31 districts and 224 constituencies of the State.
The tours will cover 8,000 km, along which the party has planned over 80 rallies, 74 public meetings and about 150 road shows, they said, adding that it is expected to "touch" about four crore people.
The 20-day long yatre will culminate with a mega rally in the district headquarters town of Davangere on March 25 which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The yatre that will begin from four different places will consist of 10-12 leaders in each of them.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
