Rajnath Singh attacks Channi over his remarks on Poonch terror attack

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday slammed former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi over his election stunt remarks on the terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force IAF convoy at Poonch in Jammu and KashmirChanni said on Sunday that the Poonch militant attack in which an IAF corporal was killed and four personnel were injured was an election stunt to benefit the BJP His remarks drew outrage from the BJP which accused Congress of being disrespectful to soldiers and demanded an apology to the nationAddressing an intellectual meet in Lucknow Singh said A former Chief Minister of Punjab called a terror attack on Air Force personnel an election stunt as it happened during the election We have such people in our countryHe further said that the BJP has cleaned up terrorism in the country There might still be a few terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir Before the BJP government there were terror attacks in most of the states he saidRecalling the Mumbai attack in 2008 Singh said after the attack that the then Home Minister said that these kinds of small terror attacks keep happeningIn 2008 when I was the party president the Mumbai attack happened and several people lost their lives The then home minister said such small terror attacks keep happening he saidIf someone tries to carry out any nefarious act India can eliminate them on this side of the border and if necessary on the other side as well We are no longer buying defence equipment from other countries We have made ourselves selfreliant in the defence sector Singh addedHe further said that the BJP does politics for nationbuilding We want to develop a prosperous Bharat that is not only financially capable but could also lead in the fields of knowledge spirituality and science Singh saidHe said that India which ranked 11th in the GDP rankings is currently the 5th largest economy in the world adding that in the coming years the country will become the third largest economyIndias economy was in 11th position from 2004 till 2014 After this PM Modi took over the charge and under his leadership within eight years Indias economy jumped from 11th position to fifth position And there is a prediction that India will be among the top three economies in the world if it continues at the same pace the Defence Minister saidAssuring people that Indian borders are completely safe and secure Singh said I request to opposition parties say whatever they want to say but stop questioning the valour and bravery of Indian soldiers On the issue of national security and border security all political parties despite their political differences should stand together irrespective of who is in powerThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever