Elaborating on his statement during the Lucknow rally, Rajnath Singh said, ''I had said three years ago that we don't need to attack (anyone) to capture PoK. One day, people there will themselves demand to join India."
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday asserted that PoK ''was, is and will remain ours'' while also hitting out at the opposition parties for raking up the China issue.
During another poll rally later in the day in Lucknow, from where he is contesting, Singh said, ''These elections are also to see who has raised the country's stature in the world.'' Accusing the opposition parties of spreading confusion on the China issue, he said, ''India has not lost anything. We will not let India lose anything. Talks are ongoing ... we are confident that a solution will be found.''
Addressing an election rally in Ballia's Sikandarpur in support of the BJP's Salempur candidate Ravindra Kushwaha, Singh also asserted, ''Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) was ours, is ours and will remain ours.''
Elaborating on his statement during the Lucknow rally, Singh said, ''I had said three years ago that we don't need to attack (anyone) to capture PoK. One day, people there will themselves demand to join India. You must have seen that such a situation has been created there today. I would like to appeal to international human rights bodies to see how people in PoK are being harassed,'' the defence minister added.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accompanied him in Lucknow.
Singh claimed that after four phases of elections, political analysts not only in India but worldwide believe that the BJP will form the government by winning more than 400 seats.
He also launched an attack on INDIA bloc partners AAP, Samajwadi Party, and the Congress and committed to implementing a uniform civil code.
Attacking the opposition parties over claims that Modi is seeking 400 seats in the Lok Sabha so that the BJP can change the Constitution, Singh recalled the Emergency period under the Congress rule and said, ''You strangled democracy and are blaming us. No one can end democracy. I want to tell political parties that politics should not be done just to form a government but to build a nation."
Polling in Lucknow will take place on May 20. Salempur goes to the polls in the last phase of the elections on June 1.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)
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 "'We don't need...': Defence Minister Rajnath Singh makes big statement on PoK")
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