'India Will Become Third Largest Economy In 4 To 5 Years' Says Rajnath Singh At Visva Bharati Convocation Ceremony

The defence minister stated that the “day is not far when India would be among the top economies in the world.”

Rajnath Singh arrived in a helicopter ahead of the convocation, on Thursday afternoon, at the campus and discussed the university's academic activities with Vice Chancellor.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: While delivering an address at the annual convocation ceremony of Visva Bharati University in West Bengal on Thursday, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that India is going to be the third-largest economy in the next 4 to 5 years.

He stated that the “day is not far when India would be among the top economies in the world.”

The defence minister said that he understands that West Bengal needs re-awakening so that it can “once again make a new contribution to the country in fields of knowledge, science and philosophy.”

The annual event was marked by picturesque cultural performances.

Singh arrived in a helicopter ahead of the convocation, on Thursday afternoon, at the campus and discussed the university's academic activities with Vice Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty. 

Meanwhile, a Left-leaning student group was prevented from screening the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Visva-Bharati University on Thursday evening. It was allegedly due to the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh elsewhere on the campus to attend a cultural function organised by the authorities.

Talking about the incident, a spokesperson of the Democratic Students Organisation (DSO), the student's wing of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), told PTI that they were prevented from screening ‘India: The Modi Question’ on a ground in the campus by both the police and university authorities. The spokesperson said that they were not allowed to bring a projector and a screen inside the campus.

"We had initially thought about screening the film in January but later on decided to defer it. After coming to know that Rajnath Singh, who is an important member of the Narendra Modi cabinet, would reach Visva-Bharati on Thursday, we decided to screen it in the evening,” he said, as per BBC.

A police officer said there was no information about any screening of the said BBC documentary on the campus and the police took the required steps as per standard security protocols owing to the presence of a VVIP like the defence minister.

However, student bodies in several other universities in West Bengal had screened the documentary.