Hyderabad, June 12 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the BJP works for the next generation and not the next election.

“We are not concerned about the next election, but rather the next generation,” he said while addressing the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sammelan’ in Secunderabad on Friday.

He claimed that there is a difference between the BJP’s words and actions. “In all the states where the BJP is in power, all illegal intruders are being driven out. This work has also begun in West Bengal,” he said.

He stated that in politics, a leader’s greatest asset is credibility.

“If any political party has accepted the challenge posed by the crisis of credibility in Indian politics, it is the BJP. You must have recently witnessed in West Bengal how the public dealt a crushing blow to those who betrayed their trust,” he said.

The Defence Minister claimed that over the past 12 years, during times of crisis, India has emerged as the world’s most trusted partner.

“Whenever a disaster strikes anywhere, India is the first to arrive with help. Today, India’s identity is recognised across the world as the ‘Viswa Bandhu’. But this does not mean that anyone should mistake our efforts for peace, our tolerance and our goodwill for weakness. Our enemies must not forget that while the Viswa Bandhu has vaccines, it also has BrahMos,” he said.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh claimed that his entire life is an epitome of honesty and integrity.

He recalled that upon becoming Prime Minister, PM Modi had made it clear that he would neither engage in corruption nor allow anyone else to do so.

The Union minister said that the foremost and fundamental condition for any leader to continuously gain people’s support is honesty.

“Modiji served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for 13 years and has been serving the public as Prime Minister for the past 12 years. His entire life has been an example of honesty and integrity. He has spent his whole life with utmost simplicity.”

Rajnath Singh said that before the BJP came to power, the country witnessed a series of scams.

“During the Congress government’s tenure, hardly a day went by without news of a scam; the country suffered losses amounting to lakhs of crores of rupees due to scandals such as the coal scam, the 2G scam and the Commonwealth Games scam,” he said.

He also referred to the alleged defence scams during the Congress rule.

“Before 2014, the country witnessed the Bofors scandal, the HDW submarine scam, the Tatra truck scam and the AgustaWestland helicopter scam. The helicopters involved were used by our armed forces personnel in carrying out their duties to protect the nation. Over the years, India’s defence budget has increased significantly. When I took charge as Defence Minister, the budget was around Rs 2.5 lakh crore. Today, it stands at approximately Rs 8 lakh crore,” he said.

Rajnath Singh slammed the Congress party for raising questions about the Election Commission, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

“Wins and losses are common in elections, but whenever the Congress loses, it starts raising questions about EVMs, SIR and the Election Commission. Instead of misleading the public, they should reflect on how they’ve lost the people’s trust due to their false claims and wrong policies. That’s precisely why they keep losing elections consistently. But the BJP has always respected the sentiments of the people and the dignity of the Constitution.”

He alleged that the Congress party’s politics is based on the notion that the country is the estate of a family.

“Rahul Gandhi also considers himself the natural successor to the post of Prime Minister. This is the difference between the BJP and the Congress. They consider themselves rulers, while we consider ourselves servants of the people. Our party has always instilled in us the ethos that service to the people is service to the divine.”

Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy, Telangana BJP President N. Ramchander Rao and other BJP leaders also addressed the programme.

–IANS

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