UP polls: Rajnath Singh to hold meetings in Hamirpur, Rath and Mahoba today

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold election meetings in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a campaigning spree for the upcoming assembly polls in five states, will hold election meetings in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday (February 6), reported ANI.

Singh’s election meeting will be held in Hamirpur, Rath and Mahoba assembly constituencies.

This comes a day after Singh addressed a rally at Kundol in the Agra Rural constituency, where he gave a strong response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his statements on China during the parliament speaker.

Singh slammed Gandhi for raising questions about the valour and courage of Indian soldiers as the latter recently said in Parliament that the number of casualties on the Indian side was higher compared to the Chinese side in a conflict involving the soldiers of the two countries in Ladakh's Galwan valley.

The defence minister also slammed the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), alleging that these parties are only after power, whereas the BJP's aim is nation-building.

The image of the country has improved on international platforms under the saffron party's rule, Singh said, adding that till 2014, nobody took an Indian leader seriously in an international forum, "but now, the whole world listens when India says something".

"We have given a clear message to the world that India is not weak anymore. It is now capable of giving a befitting reply to its enemies inside the border or outside.

"I would like to remind everyone how our soldiers had given befitting replies after the Uri and Pulwama attacks by carrying out a surgical strike and airstrikes in the territory of Pakistan," he said.

Singh also conducted rally in Kheragarh.

The much-awaited Uttar Pradesh election will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.