Voters will reward my decision to bomb Pakistan: Modhi

NEW DELHI AFP March28, 2019- 
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a campaign blitz Thursday with three huge rallies where he declared voters would reward his decision to test new weapons and bomb Pakistan with a thumping election victory.   

Indians will start voting April 11 in the world’s largest election, a nearly six-week affair involving 900 million voters and one million polling booths.   

Modi, 68, hit the hustings a day after India destroyed a low-orbiting satellite using a ballistic missile -- a military feat only equalled by China, Russia and the United States.   

That came a month after Indian warplanes bombed Pakistani territory for the first time in decades, drastically escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed foes.   
Modi, whose economic record has come under steady attack from a resurgent opposition, said these decisions proved his mettle as a strong leader.   

The main opposition Congress party and its leader, Rahul Gandhi, have accused the prime minister of stoking nationalist fervour to curry votes.   

EC to decide  if Modi’s speech violated poll code

New Delhi, (Hindustan Times), 28 March 2019- The Election Commission is likely to take a final call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech announcing the success of Mission Shakti on Friday. The poll body said a committee is examining the speech of the prime minister.   

On Wednesday, PM Modi, in a televised address, briefed the nation about the India’s entry into the elite club of nations having capability to hit a target in space.   

Modi said the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) used anti-satellite missile or A-SAT to destroy a live target in the Low Earth Orbit.   

Soon after the PM Modi’s announcement, Opposition parties called the speech a violation of the model code of conduct. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury shot off a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora drawing his attention to the PM Modi’s speech urging him to look into its content to see if it was a violation of the poll code.