Country is in safe hands, won''t let her down: Narendra Modi

Churu, February 26

In his first public address after the air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country is in safe hands and nothing is above the nation.

The prime minister said he would not let the country down.

“I want to assure the people that the country is in safe hands. There is nothing above the nation,” he said addressing a public meeting here.

“My soul says today is the day to reiterate what I had expressed in 2014. I swear by my land I won’t let my country be destroyed. I will not let the country stop. I will not let the country bow down. I pledge to the motherland that I will not let her head down,” he said.

The prime minister, however, did not make a direct reference to the strikes.

In a swift and precise air strike following the Pulwama attack, India bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed’s biggest training camp in Pakistan early on Tuesday, killing a “very large number” of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders. 

The operation, described as a non-military, preemptive strike, was welcomed by the entire political spectrum and military experts who had been advocating retribution after the February 14 suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama claimed by JeM.

Addressing the rally, the prime minister said he was able to work because the party is above individuals and the country is above the party.

“Pradhan sevak is able to work because the party is bigger than individuals and the country is bigger than the party. We are working with the feeling to serve the people of the country,” Modi said.

He said with the sentiment of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jai Vigyan, the country is progressing ahead.

Referring to the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, Modi said the first instalment of Rs 2,000 was directly transferred to bank accounts of farmers.

Targeting the Congress government in the state, he said unfortunately not a single farmer from Churu was among the beneficiaries as the Rajasthan government was stopping the benefits the Centre wanted to pass on to them.

“Rajasthan has not provided the list of farmers for the scheme launched by the Centre. Welfare of poor and farmers is the priority of our government but it is sad that the schemes meant for them are subjected to politics,” he said.

Modi said the welfare of farmers was among the priorities of the government but it hurt when schemes related to them were subjected to politics.

He said the government was working on ‘Sabka sath sabka vikas’ model.

Around 1.5 crore houses had been constructed for the poor in the past four years and more than 7 lakh houses had been constructed for the poor in Rajasthan, he said. PTI