GHAZIABAD: The occasion was the inauguration of a civil airport terminal at the Hindon air force base but that wasn’t why several thousand mobile flashlights tilted skyward on Friday evening at the venue of a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi The gesture came in response to an appeal by the PM for a tribute to the 40 jawans killed in Pulwama as the rally’s theme swung from infrastructure — the airport terminal and new metro line Modi inaugurated — to India’s response to terrorism.Modi switched to the Balakot air strikes, and his trademark interactive style reminiscent of the 2014 campaign, in the last 10 minutes of his 30-minute address, asking the capacity audience (around 50,000 by some estimates): “After the terror attack in Pulwama, should I have kept quiet? Should I have slept?”Amid a roar of ‘no’s, he launched into the opposition for seeking proof of casualties in the air strikes. “The opposition has no faith even in the Army and says they are lying,” he said. “It is up to you now as to what you want to do with them,” the PM added in a speech delivered on the brink of official poll season (the Lok Sabha poll dates are expected to be announced any time now).And in the backdrop of accusations that he and BJP have “politicised” the air strikes and turned those into an overarching election theme that supersedes all other issues like farm distress, job creation and the effect of demonetisation, Modi said, “I did not take credit for the air strikes in Pakistan, but it was Pakistan that let the world know first through a tweet it posted at 5am (a reference to the tweet posted by the Pak Army spokesperson).“Is Pakistan ‘moorkh’ (stupid) that it would say that we have been struck? But our people are asking for proof. Opposition parties can hear it loud and clear... the trust of 130-crore people is my proof. Please stop games that appease Pakistan.”Targeting the Congress-led UPA, which his government succeeded in 2014, Modi added, “After a series of terror attacks in India, be it 26/11 or the blasts in Mumbai trains or Hyderabad during their tenure, the UPA government did nothing but sleep on it. Should I have done the same? If you wanted me to act like the previous government, why did you choose me and make me PM?”“The fight”, he emphasised, “is still on”.Campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls hasn’t officially begun but the Hindon air base rally provided a preview of the themes Modi is likely to prefer in his re-election bid. He started his address with an exhortation to the public to repeat “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” after him with raised hands and clenched fists. “Shout Bharat Mata ki Jai so loudly that your voice reaches jawans guarding our borders,” he said.After that, he immediately switched track to his other pet theme: ‘vikas’ (development). Ghaziabad, where he also inaugurated the Red Line Extension (New Bus Adda to Dilshad Garden), provided just the platform. “During the reign of previous governments, Ghaziabad and western UP were known for different reasons. But today, 3Cs —connectivity, cleanliness and capital — define Ghaziabad,” the PM said, referring to the district’s impressive performance in the Swachh Bharat rankings, where it hs risen from 351st in 2017 to 13th this year. The other major infrastructure project that Modi launched in Ghaziabad on Friday was the Delhi-Meerut rapid rail (RRTS) corridor.The rally began almost two hours late and was Modi’s third in the day after Lucknow and Kanpur. He took the metro from Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) in Ghaziabad and on the way interacted with commuters onboard. He took the ride till Kashmere Gate, DMRC officials said.Modi will be in Greater Noida on Saturday morning to inaugurate the Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology. From there, he will flag off via a video link Delhi Metro’s Blue Line Extension (Noida City Centre to Electronic City). He is scheduled to be back in Ghaziabad on Sunday for the 50th raising day celebrations of the CISF at its camp in Indirapuram.Passenger services on both lines will begin on Saturday, at 8am on the Red Line Extension and at 4pm on the Blue Line Extension.

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