Addressing a public rally in Punjab's Patiala on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up the sensitive issue of the 1971 Indo-Pak war where over 90,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered and asserted if he had been in power he would have taken Kartapur Sahib from Pakistan before freeing their troops.
Bhagwant Mann 'Kagazi CM': PM Modi in Patiala
While lambasting the AAP government over several electoral issues and calling Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann only a 'kagazi CM', Modi said Punjab and the Sikh community have always been at the forefront of national-building efforts.
"Punjab has given leadership to the country in various sectors, from agriculture to industry. But, the current "fiercely corrupt" Bhagwant Mann government has changed all that. Trade and industry are leaving Punjab while the drug trade is growing. The entire state government is running on debt", PM Modi said.
"All ministers are enjoying and the 'kagazi CM' is always busy marking his presence in the 'Delhi darbar'. Can such people bring development in Punjab?", he added.
PM Modi's remark on Kartarpur Sahib
Bringing up the emotive issue of the gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib, a place sacred to Sikhs as Guru Nanak Dev spent the last years of his life there, and blamed the Congress for country's partition, saying they did it for sake of power.
The partition left Kartar Sahib in Pakistan's Punjab, just a few kilometres away from the border with India. "For 70 years, we could have a 'darshan' of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara only with binoculars," Modi said.
He said opportunity presented itself to take back the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in 1971 when more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered before the Indian Army and "we had the trump card in our hands".
"Had Modi been there at that time, I would have taken Kartapur Sahib from them (made it part of Indian territory) and then freed their troops," he said.
"They (Congress) did not do that, but I did as much I could," Modi added, referring to the opening of the Kartapur Sahib Corridor in 2019 that made it easier for Sikh pilgrims to travel to the shrine.
Modi campaigning for BJP candidates in Punjab
PM Modi on Thursday was campaigning for Preneet Kaur, the wife of former chief minister Amarinder Singh, who is BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Patiala while the other BJP candidates including Parampal Kaur Sidhu from Bathinda, Arvind Khanna from Sangrur, Hans Raj Hans from Faridkot and Gejja Ram Valmiki from the Fatehgarh Sahib seat, were also present on the stage as Modi spoke.
