Rohtang Tunnel: PM to open in late Sept

Dharamshala: PM Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the 8.8-km-long Rohtang tunnel, being built on the Leh-Manali highway, in the last week of September, Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur said. He said the tunnel will give all-weather connectivity to the remote and border areas of the state.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of lying on India’s border standoff issue with China after the ministry of defence officially acknowledged that Chinese soldiers intruded into Indian territory in eastern Ladakh in May.

Addressing party workers across Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls at a virtual rally, Mr Gandhi charged the Modi government with destroying all institutions in collusion with the BJP’s ideological parent — the RSS — and asserted that the Congress must shoulder the responsibility of bringing all the Opposition parties together.

My blood boiled when I learnt that China had captured a part of our territory, Mr Gandhi said, alleging the PM spoke a lie that no such thing has happened. He got exposed by a contrary statement from the defence ministry itself.

Did he not care at all for the sacrifices made by the

Bihar Regiment? Twenty of our soldiers belonging to the regiment were killed in the clashes with Chinese troops. The PM’s averment was tantamount to an insult to the martyrs, Mr Gandhi alleged

Turning his attention towards the Covid-19 pandemic, he remarked sarcastically, I had warned way back in February that the country was going to be hit by a corona tsunami. And we are on our way to becoming the vishwa guru of the coronavirus.

Today, I am predicting a much bigger storm of unemployment and a sinking economy which may batter Bihar and the rest of the country in about six months or a year. The blame lies on the Modi government and the RSS which are together working towards destroying all institutions, Mr Gandhi was quoted as having told the rally.