Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | BJP workers became Covid warriors while Cong workers hid: Anurag Thakur

Hamirpur (HP): BJP workers were on the streets to help people during the Covid-19 pandemic, while those associated with the Congress were hiding in their homes during the period of crisis, Union minister Anurag Thakur said on Sunday.

Addressing a series of rallies in the Dehra and Nadaun Assembly segments of the Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh, the senior BJP leader said, "We not only saved the lives of our countrymen during the time of Covid, but also provided more than 220 crore free vaccines in a record time."

He added that the 'corona warriors' of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delivered food, equipment and medicines to the people of Himachal Pradesh to deal with the pandemic.

"With my personal efforts, I provided health facilities in Himachal Pradesh worth Rs 10.3 crore. To ensure no shortage of oxygen in Himachal Pradesh and especially, in the Hamirpur constituency, I got an oxygen bank operational here from which 1,400 beds got uninterrupted oxygen," the member of Parliament from Hamirpur said.

Appealing to the voters to ensure the BJP's victory in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls and ensure a third term for Narendra Modi as the prime minister, he said "by running Operation Ganga, the prime minister facilitated the safe return of more than 27,000 Indian citizens trapped in the Ukraine-Russia war, including 300 students from Himachal Pradesh."

"This is Modi's new India that brought our Sikh brothers and the Guru Granth Sahib from Afghanistan to India with full respect. During the time of Covid, about three crore Indians from all over the world came to India safely. It is the Modi government that made the Indian sailors return home safely even after they were given the death penalty in Qatar," he added.

Thakur claimed that the country will be doomed and become a colony of foreign forces who are busy destabilising its integrity and unity if the I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc comes to power at the Centre.

He accused the Congress and other constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.) of advocating the cause of terrorists and pro-Pakistani elements, and said their 'nefarious desires' will not materialise as people have seen through their 'evil designs'.

Accusing the Congress of adopting a policy of appeasement towards minorities, Thakur alleged that nepotism and terrorism prevailed during the tenure of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Describing Modi's 10-year term as 'historic and unforgettable', he said the prime minister's work and name have left an 'indelible mark' on the hearts and minds of people, and added that 'My Choice Modi' is echoing across the country.

During Modi's term as the prime minister, 25 crore people have come out of poverty, Thakur claimed.

Listing out alleged scams during the Congress-led UPA rule, he said the grand old party 'looted' the country. He appealed to the BJP workers to explain to the young generation how the Congress allegedly looted the country.

All four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh are scheduled to go to polls in the final phase of the seven-phase election on June 1 and the counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.