Issuing a strong warning to Pakistan, Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Thursday warned that anybody attacking India will have to suffer 10 times more casualties.
Addressing whirlwind election rallies in Solapur, Sangli and Osmanabad districts in Maharashtra, Shah said amidst roaring applause: "The whole world has realised it now... If one of our jawans is martyred, 10 of theirs will be killed."
Targeting former Congress President Rahul Gandhi for not supporting the government on issues of national importance, Shah reiterated that the BJP didn't believe in vote-bank politics.
"We don't indulge in politics of vote-bank or appeasement... National interest is our only top priority," Shah said, referring to the achievements of the government such as the 2016 surgical strikes across the Line of Control after the terror attacks in Uri and the air strikes in Balakot following the Pulwama terror attack earlier this year.
On the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Shah pointed out that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi had attacked the decision, saying that it would lead to a bloodbath. "But today, Kashmir is peaceful," he said.
He also pointed out how Pakistan-sponsored terror had killed over 40,000 people in Jammu and Kashmir and said that "it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who ensured that the crown of India was integrated into the national mainstream of the Indian Union."
"Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's dream of an integrated India has been achieved by Prime Minister Modi in his second tenure," Shah said.
He demanded that Rahul Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar should "clarify" whether they are for or against the decision to revoke special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
"I ask them, why did you oppose it when the whole country wanted Jammu and Kashmir to be an integral part of India? They had claimed that rivers of blood will flow in Kashmir. But today, Kashmir is in peace without a single bullet being fired," Shah said.
Urging the people of Maharashtra to return the BJP-led alliance to power with a two-thirds majority, the BJP chief questioned what has the Congress-NCP government "done for the state in their 15 years of rule."
Charging the Congress-NCP of fostering "dynastic politics", he lauded Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' five-year rule as "amazing", saying the state has fared better in all areas of governance compared to all the earlier regimes.
"While Modi has made the country secure, Fadnavis has made the state developed. This 'double-decker BJP government' at the Centre and the state will help catapult Maharashtra to the top position in the country," Shah assured.
He also showered praises on Fadnavis for working incessantly for the state's development and for his concerns for the farmers and the youth. He also hailed the Chief Minister for increasing irrigation facilities from 3.20 million to 4 million hectares, improving road infrastructure, etc., and urged the people to vote for the BJP.
Shah, who had attended a Dussehra rally in Beed on October 8, is scheduled to address another series of election rallies in Maharashtra on October 11, according to party sources.
The 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will go to the polls on October 21 while the results will be declared on October 24.