Sizeable number of militants neutralised during Operation Sindoor: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday (October 29, 2025) criticised Pakistan for failing to mend its ways and said a “sizeable number of militants have been neutralised during Operation Sindoor”.

“You have seen how even after our surgical strikes they did not learn their lessons. Terrorists from Pakistan targeted Indian citizens, tourists who had simply gone there [Pahalgam] to enjoy the beauty of Kashmir and they were killed after being asked about their religion,” Mr. Singh said at a public meeting in Darbhanga in poll-bound Bihar.

Also Read: Bihar Assembly election Updates on October 29, 2025

Mr. Singh said India did not believe in the “politics of division”. “We do not do politics based on caste or religion… our politics is based on justice and humanity,” he said, adding that India’s response to the Pahalgam attack was both decisive and moral.

“When we launched Operation Sindoor, our goal was clear, to target terrorist camps across the border. They killed our people after asking their religion, we targeted only those responsible for terror,” he said. 

“India considers the whole world as one family believing in the mantra Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. … Our sages never taught us hatred rather they taught compassion,” he added.

Mr. Singh praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “restoring India’s pride and stature on the global stage”.

Indian armed forces targeted nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as part of Operation Sindoor in May in retaliation to the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22.

He also credited Mr. Modi for granting “constitutional status” to the  OBC (Other Backward Classes) Commission and accused the Opposition Mahagatbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar of “misleading people with unrealistic promises”.

“It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi and not Rahul Gandhi who gave constitutional status to OBC commission. BJP-led government has always respected Backward Class through solid action rather than mere rhetoric”. 

He claimed that ₹15 lakh crore had been allocated for the all-round development of Bihar in the past 11 years under the Narendra Modi government.

Recalling how Mr. Modi transferred money directly to the bank accounts of women and farmers of the country, he said,  “When Prime Minister Narendra Modi transferred money directly into women’s bank accounts, did he ever ask if she was a Hindu or Muslim? Similarly, when assistance was given to farmers, did he see their religion?”

“No, every Indian got benefited, and this is the spirit of this nation,” he said. “India’s strength lies not just in its power to strike back but in its ability to act with humanity, justice, and restraint,” he said. 

Slamming the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the senior BJP leader said the Opposition party “has defamed Bihar across world through its past record of corruption and misgovernance”. He said the Opposition’s election promise of providing a government job to every household was “unrealistic and misleading”. “RJD has made unrealistic promise of providing government job to each household in Bihar. This is not practical governance rather, it’s a politics of deception,” he said.

“Issues in this Assembly election in Bihar is clear, whether the State will be taken back to the jungle raj days or it will remain on the path of development,” he said,  announcing that the National Democratic Alliance would release its manifesto on October 30 and “implement every single word in it”. 

On the comment by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav that they would undo the Waqf Act after coming to power, Mr Singh said, “They cannot do this as the law was passed in Parliament.”

Mr. Singh’s another public meeting at Chhapra was cancelled due to rain and security reasons.