42 terrorists killed in Pulwama after attack on CRPF jawans: PM Modi

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Apr 25 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that 42 terrorists have been eliminated till now in Pulwama where 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist on February 14.
"In the past five years, no terrorist attacks have taken place. It has shrunk to a few parts of Jammu and Kashmir. In Pulwama, they killed 40 of our jawans. After the attack, around 42 terrorists have been eliminated in Pulwama. This is our working style. For a prosperous India, security is important," the Prime Minister said while addressing a gathering here.
Speaking further, he said: "I can never think of anything other than national interest, whatever be the circumstances, whether it is Pulwama, the Uri incident or any instances in my own life. I have only one mantra 'India First' and I have lived my entire life based on this."
The Prime Minister alleged that the previous governments had not taken any decision after terrorist attacks.
"Sankatmochan temple here, Akshardham in Gujarat. Terrorist attacks are carried out at our religious centres. After every attack, the government at that time did not do anything. In these circumstances, Kashi blessed me not just as an MP but also as the Prime Minister,” he said.
"130 crore people have given me the courage to reply to the terrorists in their language. We told them that new India does not tolerate such acts but gives a befitting reply," he added.
Modi highlighted the development works in the Varanasi constituency represented by him after the 2014 elections.
"The road from Babarpur airport to the city has become the new identity of Banaras. Railway station and roads have been improved. The hanging electricity cables are disappearing and the Ganga ghats have become beautiful," he said.
"Our opposition also considers the work done by us in the area of connectivity as good. Unprecedented work is being done all over the country from roadways to airways, which is also seen in Kashi," he added.
The Prime Minister also underlined the work being done in river Ganga.
"Ganga becoming the first waterway of the country, and ships cruising in Varanasi is a good sign of our tourism and trade. We have moved a lot in the direction of making mother Ganga pure. Many drains flowing into Ganga have been closed," he said.
"Baba Vishwanath Dham's work is in progress. Darshan of Mother Ganga from the temple and the philosophy of Baba from the banks of Ganga is God's will," Modi said.
He further said that the BJP-led government has asked for recommendations of common people from across the country for the Padma awards.
"These awards were given earlier too, but no one knew about it. We made a big difference. We have asked names from villages of the country, resultantly 50,000 names came forward," he said.
"The world has seen the people who have received Padma awards. Varanasi's folk singer Hiralal Yadav ji also received the award. Likewise, we also got the good fortune of honouring great personalities like Mahamna and Atal ji with Bharat Ratna," the Prime Minister said.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi held a roadshow in Varanasi ahead of filing his nomination on Friday. (ANI)