Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh):

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday said the “corrupt alliance” of India’s opposition groups will be wiped out in the Lok Sabha polls, saying the Congress was fighting only to “win 40 seats”.

“Indian alliance partners and these princes (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) wanted so (BJP to reduce seats to 150) but their intention will never materialize. They have also done so before came together but the public has wiped them out. This time again, this alliance of corrupt people will be wiped out in the Lok Sabha polls. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that whether it is in 2014 or in 2019, the public will. You win and this time too, the Congress fights just to cross 40 seats and the public will bless the BJP to get an absolute majority and cross 400 seats,” Anurag Thakur told reporters.

Reacting to Congress leader Sachin Pilot’s “Nansav, North” remarks, Thakur said it was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who was rejected by the North after his defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls , moved to Wayanad, Kerala.

“Everyone has seen how the Congress party was wiped out from Rajasthan in the assembly elections. It was because the Congress party forgot the promises it made to the people after coming to power. The Congress party can stoop to any level to win the elections. When Rahul Gandhi was rejected by Rajasthan to go north, he went to South India and got support from organizations like SDPI and PFI, with whose support Rahul Gandhi contested the elections and Having included members of the ‘Tukde Tukde’ gang in his party, he now believes in dividing India,” he said.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur also claimed that the Congress is considering abolition of the country’s nuclear weapons, which will weaken the country.

“Congress is known for scams like Jeep Scam, Bofors Scam, AgustaWestland Scam, Submarine Scam etc and since now it is no longer in power it wants to cripple the country by abolishing nuclear weapons. Congress thinks where the country should be On one hand, you (Congress) have joined forces with the ‘Tukde Tukde’ gang and on the other hand, you are making statements to divide India,” Anurag Thakur told reporters in Hamirpur.

Anurag Thakur slammed the Congress party over the law and order situation in Karnataka, saying they have become “silent spectators”.

“In your state, Congress is in power, slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ are rang out in the Assembly building but Congress remains silent, bomb blasts occur in Karnataka but Congress remains a silent spectator, not only So, when a daughter is exposed in broad daylight, they are silent about it,” he said.

Earlier, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday accused the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress party of conspiring to weaken India while questioning the intention of the CPI(M) election manifesto to dismantle all nuclear weapons in the country.

Singh also demanded to know Congress’s stance on the issue, saying “talk of eliminating our nuclear weapons is tantamount to playing with national security.”

“I specifically want to ask the Congress what they think about this comment by the CPIM. I would like to ask them to clarify. The CPIM said that if they come to power, they will destroy all nuclear weapons. India’s first nuclear test was in 1974 Indira Gandhi made this demand because China has been conducting nuclear tests and even Pakistan has started nuclear tests,” the defense minister said while addressing a public rally in Kasargod, Kerala.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which is part of the India Group, in its manifesto released last week pledged to “completely eliminate nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)