Congress working to dent morale of country's soldiers: Nadda

Amid the ongoing border standoff with China, the BJP on Sunday alleged the Congress is working to dent the morale of the country's soldiers and said it could take a lesson from the saffron party in playing the role of Opposition.

BJP chief J P Nadda asserted that every inch of the country is safe under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress has criticised the Centre's handling of the standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border, in Ladakh. It has accused the government of "surrendering" Indian territory to Chinese aggression.

Addressing a virtual rally for party workers of Braj region and western Uttar Pradesh, Nadda said, "We pay our respect to the brave soldiers who pushed back the Chinese in the Galwan Valley. The Congress is working day and night to dent their morale."

Indian and Chinese armies have been engaged in a standoff in the Galwan Valley and several other areas of eastern Ladakh since May 5. Twenty Indian soldiers, including a colonel, were killed in a violent face-off with Chinese troops on the night of June 15/16 in the Galwan Valley.

Nadda said the Congress should worry about its roadmap rather than the country's.

"I would like to tell the Congress party in clear words that under the leadership of Modiji, the roadmap of India's development is ready. You worry about your own roadmap, which is sliding downwards every day.

"You don't know the responsibility of Opposition. We have been in Opposition for a long time, you can take a lesson from our time in Opposition," he said.

The BJP chief claimed that his party stood with the then central governments during the 1962 India-China war and the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971.

Responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "Surender Modi" swipe at the prime minister, Nadda said, "Now even God is not with you. Things like Narendra Modi is Surendra Modi, he is not only the leader of humans but also the leader of gods, are being said by you, through your tweets."

A day after accusing Modi of surrendering Indian territory, Gandhi, in a tweet earlier on Sunday, said, "Narendra Modi is actually Surendra Modi."

In another tweet, the Congress leader said even though the prime minister says no one has taken over Indian territory, satellite images show that the Chinese have "captured" Indian territory near Pangong Tso in Ladakh.

Nadda also lauded the prime minister's decision to impose a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"Through the lockdown, Modiji took the bold and timely decision of securing the lives of citizens," he said.

"At that time India was not making PPE kits, today local manufacturers are making four lakh PPE kits per day. There is no shortage of PPE kits in the country. At that time there were no dedicated COVID hospitals, today there are 1,000 dedicated hospitals with two lakh beds and over 21,000 ventilators," he said.

He said the entire country responded to the prime minister's call for 'Janta Curfew' on March 22.

Nadda said the Centre and the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh worked for the welfare of migrant workers.

"The Centre ran over 4,000 trains for migrant labourers, while the state government deployed buses. UP did a good job in helping the migrant labourers reach their homes," he said.

Party workers in Uttar Pradesh set up shelters for migrant labourers, gave them food, water, and even slippers, and made arrangements for them to go home.

The BJP chief said the party distributed 19 crore food packets under its 'Feed the Needy' programme.

Nearly, five crore ration kits called 'Modi Kits' were also distributed without any government help. Each kit contained ration for 10-30 days, he said.

He also asked party workers to establish contact with migrant labourers at the booth level.

Nadda said under the prime minister, people saw two styles of working -- taking everyone along and public participation.

Referring to Modi's call for "vocal for local", the BJP chief said, "UP has immense potential on this front. Vocal for local and make it global. We have to work on this."

Nadda also listed the various achievements of the Modi government 2.0 which completed one year in office last month. Union ministers Sanjiv Balyan and Gen (Retd) V K Singh were also present with Nadda.