SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday alleged that India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru kept Sardar Patel away from the Kashmir issue and the nation was now bearing the brunt of it. While addressing a rally in Gujarat's, Modi said: “Jawarharlal Nehru had asked Sardar Patel to leave Kashmir issue to him and do everything else and now we are facing [the brunt of] it. Has Modi created the Kashmir issue? It’s a Congress legacy.”
He added, “When our 40 jawans were killed in a Pulwama attack in Pulwama, the Congress was conspiring to corner me over the attack but within 12 days, our jawans carried out air strikes in Pakistan.” “Fearing retaliation from India, Pakistan had deployed all its army personnel at India’s border. Pakistan even shifted its jawans from the Afghanistan border and deployed them here. During this time, I went to South Korea and they believed that Modi will not do anything as he is in South Korea but they don’t know who Modi is. I gave a free hand to the army. Pakistan thought Modi is from Gujarat so India’s jawans will come through the sea route. But we carried out surprise air strikes,” Modi said.