#Ahmedabad: Political slug-fest over the air strikes on Pakistan , Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday slammed opponents for labelling action to avenge Pulwana attack as an electoral gimmick.“They are saying airstrike was for electoral gains. Where there were elections when we carried out surgical strikes? Humara siddhant hai, hum ghar me ghus ke marenge (It is our principle to take the attack home),” said Modi at Civil Hospital campus in Ahmedabad. He opened the ‘Medicity’, a 1,200-bed extension costing Rs 1,450 crore to the Asia’s largest public hospital here.
Modi arrived on a two-day visit to his home state Gujarat , his first after air strikes, where he lambasted the UPA government for not avenging the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and the 2008 serial blasts in Ahmedabad. Fifty-eight people were killed in the serial blasts, of which, 37 including doctors and paramedical staff was blown to death in the Civil Hospital campus itself.
“Do you remember the day when demons struck Civil Hospital? Had the then government been stronger, they would have taken revenge. Why did they not avenge 26/11 Mumbai attacks?” questioned Modi.
“Chun chun ke hisaab lena meri fitrat hai (It is my nature to settle every score),” said PM Modi.
Addressing Patidars at the Vishva Umiya Dham venue, Modi exuded confidence as he stated, “I’m there after 2019 too, so don’t worry”. “If you have any work with union government, consider the Delhi home as yours,” he added.
Earlier in Jamnagar, urging opposition parties to use common sense, Modi criticized them for questioning his statement that the presence of Rafale fighter jets would have given greater firepower to the IAF during the February 27 aerial engagement with Pakistan.
“Those who accused me of questioning the air force strikes when I made this statement must use their common sense. I had said if we had acquired Rafale jets in time, none of our fighter jets would have gone down and not a single of theirs would have been saved,” said PM Modi.
India lost one MiG 21 jet during the fierce dogfight in which one F-16 warplane of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) was also shot down.
Hitting out at the political critics, Modi said that they have made such statements which make headlines in Pakistani newspapers and are lauded in Pakistan’s Parliament.
“Is this the way you are serving the national interest?… You may question me on my policies. You may not trust me but at least trust the armed forces. Don’t raise questions over their valour,” the PM said at the inauguration of the civil hospital here.
On the first day of his visit, Modi dedicated a slew of development projects and laid foundation for new projects.
In Jamnagar, he inaugurated the new 700-bed Guru Gobind Singh Hospital, laid the foundation stone for new desalination plant, phase-3 of SAUNI scheme and flagged off the new Jamnagar-Bandra Humsafar Express.
In Ahmedabad, Modi performed ground breaking ceremony of Vishva Umiya Dham, a Rs 1,000 crore socio-religious complex set up by Patidar community. He green-flagged Metro train in Ahmedabad which in first phase will run 6.5 km from Vastral to Apparel Park from March 6. by agency,
Bureau Report
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