BHOPAL: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the strong measures taken by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre deterred Pakistan from sponsoring terrorism in India.
Addressing a public meeting in Ujjain, Mr Shah said that earlier, terrorists from Pakistan used to infiltrate India and carry out bomb blasts before escaping to their country. But, after terrorist attacks at Uri and Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian forces carried out surgical strikes targeting the terror infrastructure. The surgical strikes deterred Pakistan from sponsoring terrorism in India, he said.
“Pakistan realised that it was not the ‘Mauni Baba’ (referring to the previous Manmohan Singh government) government but a BJP government when the Indian forces entered Pakistan's territory to target the terrorists,” Mr Shah said.
The Union home minister said that the Narendra Modi government has dealt strongly with terrorism and Left-wing extremism in the country.
He said that the Centre abrogated Article 370 and slammed the Congress for failing to do so in seven decades of its rule.
The Union minister made a scathing attack on the Congress, saying that Madhya Pradesh was pushed to backwardness during the previous Digvijay Singh government in the state.
The state had earned the tag of a "bimaru" (laggard) state during Mr Singh's rule. Madhya Pradesh was identified with its bad roads during the previous Congress government, he said.
Mr Shah said that the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh ushered in development. The annual budget of the state was Rs 23,000 crores in 2002, which now stands at Rs 3.15-lakh crores.
The per capita income of people in the state has increased from Rs 11,000 to Rs 1.40 lakhs during the period. The state had 60,000 km of roads in 2002, which has increased to 5.6 lakh km now. The tourist footfalls in the state have increased from 64 lakhs in 2002 to 9 crores now.
The Union minister dared the Congress to join a debate on the progress made by the country during the 9-year rule of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and during the 10-year rule of the previous Manmohan Singh government.
Earlier, addressing the BJP workers in Khajuraho in Chhatarpur district, Mr Shah gave poll-winning tips to the partymen, saying that winning the booths will ensure victory in the elections.
Mr Shah began his three-day visit to MP on Saturday.
