Dedicate your vote to those who carried out airstrike: Modi to first-timers

New Delhi, Apr 09: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday appealed to first-time voters to dedicate their votes to those who carried out air strike.

"I want to ask the first-time voter, can your vote be dedicated to those soldiers who conducted air strike on Balakot in Pakistan?" he asked. "Can your first vote be dedicated to those soldiers who were killed in Pulwama attack?"

Modi said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s manifesto did not mention the Balakot air strike, but said the government carried it out when it was warranted, PTI reported.

The Prime Minister mentioned the defence forces in his election speech despite the Election Commission directing parties to keep them out of election campaigns.

At the rally today, PM Modi said people who have just turned 18 must have, at some point in their lives, benefitted from the contributions of the society. "You are 18 now and you must give your vote for the country, for a strong government, to make the country stronger," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister reiterated his allegation that the opposition parties that they were questioning the valour of the security forces post last month's Pulwama terror attack.

Modi also hailed the manifesto of the BJP, released in Delhi Monday, and said the party was committed to national security and farmers' welfare and other.

"Your trust is my biggest accomplishment in last five years," Modi told the crowd.

Forty CRPF soldiers were killed when a Jaish terrorist blew himself up beside a convoy of the paramilitary force in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14.