Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday that the defence industrial corridor in Uttar Pradesh would be extended to Lucknow.
He said around 272 products and equipment would be manufactured in the units to be set up in the defence industrial corridor.
The corridor was primarily announced for the Bundelkhand region and Agra.
Addressing a meeting of party leaders and cadre in Lucknow, Singh, who is visiting his constituency after becoming the Defence Minister, said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s thumping victory in Uttar Pradesh in the recent Lok Sabha elections was very significant as the party’s vote share increased despite the coming together of caste-based parties — Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal.
“BJP’s big victory in the national elections shows the party’s vote share increased in UP despite the SP-BSP alliance in the state. After SP-BSP alliance in UP, some senior leaders were thinking that we (BJP) will only get 10-15 seats and not 72. But even after staying in power for five years, there was no anti-incumbency. On the contrary, there was pro-incumbency and BJP’s vote share increased,” he said.
Talking about Narendra Modi’s vision, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to fulfil the basic necessities of people. “For this, the government has already initiated several mega projects,” he said.
The Defence Minister praised the country’s soldiers. “Our soldiers carried out surgical strike and then the air strike in Balakot. It sent out a message to the world that India is a strong country, not a weak one,” he said.
Singh said the One Rank One Pension scheme would soon be revised to benefit ex-Servicemen. The Defence Minister said he had spoken to the Prime Minister on this issue and a decision would be taken soon.
Rajnath Singh retained his Lucknow Lok Sabha seat by defeating his nearest rival, Poonam Sinha of Samajwadi Party by over 3.4 lakh votes.