Home Minister Amit Shah hits campaign trail in Haryana with firm stance on bringing back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir

Parveen Arora

Karnal, May 20

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday hit the campaign trail in Haryana for the upcoming Lok Sabha election and called upon people to vote for former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for strengthening the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He gave a call of bringing PM Modi for the third consecutive time.

Shah promised that they will bring back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and said it was an integral part of India. “PoK is an integral part of India and we will regain it. Rahul baba and his party’s decision do not matter to us, but we will remain firm on it.”

He emphasised the strong internal and external security measures taken by the PM Modi-led government.

He praised the tenure of former CM Manohar Lal Khattar and said that he has stopped corruption and provided jobs to deserving people. “Khattar stopped the practice of taking bribes for jobs. Now, jobs are given ‘bina parchi, bina kharchi’,” Shah said. He also lauded the efforts of Khattar for inclusive development without any discrimination and said, “Previously, the CM was from Rohtak or Sirsa, but for the first time, a CM has been made from Haryana.”

In his 24-minutes speech, Shah, while seeking votes for BJP candidate from Karnal Lok Sabha and former CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Karnal Assembly by-elections candidate and CM Nayab Singh Saini, criticised the Congress for their mishandling of national security issues, including delayed implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme and their failure to remove Article 370.

“Terrorism increased in the country, but the Congress did not remove Article 370,” he maintained.

Shah criticised the Congress for not attending the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Ram temple and alleged they did this for minority vote bank. He also highlighted the opposition’s internal discord, questioning the leadership and unity within the INDI Alliance. “If the arrogant coalition gets a majority, who will become the Prime Minister?” he asked, highlighting the absence of a clear leader among them.

Appreciating the steps taken by the BJP government, Shah said that PM Modi will become the Prime Minister for the third consecutive time to continue the pace of development works, exhorting voters to cast their votes in the favour of Khattar and Saini.