Defence minister Rajnath Singh has hit back at the Opposition for calling top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders dictators and reminded the Congress of the Emergency of 1975 when he was sent to jail.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Rajnath Singh turned emotional, saying he could not even attend his mother’s last rites after she passed away due to a brain haemorrhage.

”I was not given parole to attend my mother’s last rites during the Emergency, and now they (Congress) call us dictators,” ANI quoted the defence minister as saying.

“I could not even meet her during her final days when she was admitted in the hospital for 27 days,” Rajnath Singh said, responding to allegations by the Congress and its allies that the central government had resorted to “tanashahi“, or dictatorship.

“People who imposed dictatorship through Emergency are accusing us of dictatorship,” Rajnath Singh said in the ANI Podcast.

Slamming Congress over its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections promising “restoring of status quo ante” on borders with China, Rajnath Singh said, “I want to assure the countrymen that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, no one can capture even an inch of our land and we won’t cede even an inch of our land.”

“I can only wonder that the Congress government can do this. I wouldn’t like to comment on what happened under their rule, how many 1000 square kilometres of the land went into Chinese possession. But, I want to assure the countrymen that under PM Modi-led government, no one can capture even an inch of our land and we won’t cede even an inch of our land,” the defence minister said.

Rajasthan Singh on Pakistan and terrorism

At the podcast, Rajnath Singh also offered help to Pakistan to combat terrorism.

“If Pakistan feels incapable, India is ready to cooperate to stop terrorism… If Pakistan is trying to destabilise India with the help of terrorism, then it will have to face the consequences. Pakistan needs to control terrorism. If Pakistan thinks that it is not capable of controlling it, then it can take help from India. India is ready to help Pakistan stop terrorism. They are our neighbours, and if their intentions are clear that terrorism should stop, then they should do that themselves; otherwise, they can take help from India and we both can end terrorism. But this is their call, I am just giving them advice,” Rajnath Singh asserted.