India has emerged as strong nation, can face any challenge: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday asserted that India has emerged as a strong nation that can face any challenge.

Asserting that the BJP will secure at least 50 seats in the elections to the 60-member assembly in Tripura on February 16, the Union minister called the seat-sharing agreement of the Congress and the CPI(M) a "jugalbandi between a flute that does not produce sound and a sitar with torn strings".

Addressing an election rally in Barjala area of Agartala, the senior BJP leader said that the Indian Army can kill Pakistan-backed terrorists on either side of the border.

"India was earlier known as a weak nation. But now, the whole world is aware that India is a strong country. We are now ready to face any challenge.

"The Indian Army easily neutralises Pakistan-backed terrorists entering our sovereign territory. When required, we even entered Pakistan and liquidated these terrorists. We can kill these terrorists on either side of the border," he said.

Singh said Tripura was once a hotbed of insurgency but the situation has changed completely under the BJP rule.

Noting that peace is the primary condition for development, Singh said the BJP government will "not tolerate violence in any form".

Singh claimed that currently, nobody in the country dies of hunger but news of starvation deaths was heard of before 2014.

The Union minister claimed that before the BJP came to power in the state in 2018, the rural areas of Tripura were plunged into darkness, and even there were massive power outages in state capital Agartala but now the entire state is well-electrified.

He said the state now has a good network of roads, better internet connectivity and an international airport.