New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a Himachal Pradesh tour, on Thursday said "Dhairya rakhiye," when crowd asked him a question on Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). Rajnath is touring the state which will go to the polls on November 12 and the counting of votes will be held on December 8. Addressing a rally in Jaisinghpur, Himachal Pradesh, the Defence Minister said, "Dhairya rakhiye."
While addressing a rally in Himachal’s Solan, Singh said, “People of this country can evaluate well what earlier governments did and what present government is doing. Cong has been in power for a long time post-independence. But only two PMs-Atal Bihari Vajpayee and PM Modi-gave importance to Himachal like nobody else”.
Singh showered his praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi dor his leadership and said that India’s prestige has increased on the global stage under his prime ministership.
“No one can deny the fact that after PM Modi became PM, India’s prestige increased on the global stage. Today if India says anything on the global forum, other countries listen carefully to what India is saying,” he said.
In 2017 assembly polls, the BJP bagged 44 seats and the Congress 21 in the 68-member assembly, with the ruling party getting a vote share of 48.8 per cent and the grand old party 41.7 per cent.
In 2012, the Congress had won the assembly polls bagging 36 seats and the BJP could get only 26.
Himachal Pradesh will hold elections on November 12 and vote counting will begin on December 8. The BJP is seeking re-election in the state, while the Congress is attempting to dethrone the saffron party, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is attempting to carve out new political space.