Budaun (UP), May 1 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday claimed that the Narendra Modi government stopped the Russia-Ukraine war for four and a half hours to safely evacuate the Indian students trapped there.

Singh made the remark while addressing a public meeting in support of BJP candidates Dharmendra Kashyap and Durvijay Singh.

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While Kashyap is contesting from Aonla Lok Sabha seat, Durvijay Singh is a contender from Budaun seat.

Claiming that a new India has emerged over the last 10 years of the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singh said that when India says something, the whole world listens carefully.

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"The Russia-Ukraine war has been going on for the last two years. When it started, thousands of our children were studying in Ukraine. A delegation of parents of children stranded in Ukraine Prime Minister Met Narendra Modi and asked to bring back his children safely. Then the Prime Minister of India spoke to the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine and the war stopped for four and a half hours. This is today's India," he said.

The minister claimed that Modi rid the country of pilferage of government funding which, he alleged, was a norm during the Congress rule.

"In the Congress government, one of their prime ministers had admitted that if we send one rupee to the poor, only 12 paise reaches their account. Today under Modi's rule, if one rupee is sent, the full rupee reaches the account. Modi ji has freed the country from corruption by opening Jan Dhan accounts," he said.

Singh said that in the next five years, the BJP will take its development works forward at an even faster pace.

"SP is coming to an end. SP is a finished party. If you ask about Congress, after 10 years, it will also end like the dinosaurs," he said attacking the opposition.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)