Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday targeted the Congress, saying Pakistan uses the party’s reactions on the Centre’s decisions “to strengthen their case globally”, Hindustan Times reported.

The prime minister, who addressed an election rally in Haryana’s Gohana city in Sonipat district, said the Opposition party had reacted negatively to his government’s decision to scrap Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status, the Balakot air strikes, and the Swachh Bharat cleanliness initiative.

Modi claimed the Congress did not like the Centre’s decisions regarding Jammu and Kashmir, which he said removed the obstacles impeding the region’s development. “When we talk of surgical strikes or Balakot, they don’t like it,” he added. “When we talk of Swachh Bharat or surgical strike then Congress gets stomach ache, and if by chance anyone says Balakot then Congress starts jumping with pain. Pakistan uses them to strengthen their case globally, what sort of chemistry is this?”

Haryana will to polls on October 21 and the results will be declared on October 24.

The prime minister said the Congress was indifferent towards the feelings of soldiers from Haryana, who were protecting the country’s border in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. He added that the region had made India proud in every field, be it wrestling or combating militancy.

“Sonipat means ‘Kisan,Jawan aur Pehelwan’,” the prime minister told the audience, adding that under previous Congress governments “neither jawans were safe, neither farmers nor our sportspersons”. The prime minister accused the Congress of indulging in corruption in agriculture and sports, ANI reported.

Modi said the people of Haryana “broke arrogance of big leaders” in the Lok Sabha elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The prime minister urged people to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming elections, pointing out that the state government had worked hard on the farm sector in the last five years. “With the PM Kisan scheme, farmers of Haryana will be benefitted from direct financial help,” The Indian Express quoted Modi as saying.

At a rally in Hisar, Modi claimed that the Congress had already accepted defeat in the polls, PTI reported. “Have you seen a video that went viral and in which a Congress leader was looking down upon a leader from Haryana at Parliament complex?” he asked the audience. “I was surprised that the Haryana leader was standing with folded hands. Have you seen the video? Will you accept the insult of Haryana?”

The prime minister said that was necessary to revive old water management methods, ANI reported. “We want to create systems that can help in recycling household water and which can be used for irrigation,” he said. “And I’m hopeful that the country will be successful in doing so by 2024.”

Modi said the government was planning to spend Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the next five years so that people do not face water shortage. “Our effort is to ensure that farmers do not have to rely only on weather,” he added.

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