Going to be \'qatal ki raat\': PM warned Pak during Abhinandan\'s captivity

Patan: Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up his campaign against terror on Sunday – a day that saw the deaths of over 200 people in horrific attacks in neighbouring Sri Lanka.

At a rally in Gujarat, Modi said: “I have decided either I will be alive or terrorists even if I no longer have the Prime Minister’s chair,'' Modi said.

He targeted Pakistan over the release of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman after the recent dogfight between the two countries. He said the neighbouring country was forced to release him or would have faced severe retaliation. "We warned Pakistan that if anything happened to our pilot, they would keep telling the world that Modi had done this to them," he said.

"A senior American official said the second day that Modi had 12 missiles ready and might attack. The situation would deteriorate. Pakistan returned the pilot on the second day, else it would have been a ‘qatal ki raat'," Modi said. "This was said by America, not me. I have nothing to say about this now, I will speak when the time will come," he added.

Taking a swipe at NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who on Saturday said he was "terribly afraid" what Modi would do next, he said: “If he is unaware of what Modi would do tomorrow, how would Imran Khan know?”

Modi urged Gujarat voters to elect the "son of their soil" with full-majority in forming the next government.

“My government will come back to power for sure, but if Gujarat doesn't give all 26 seats (to BJP), the TV discussions on May 23 would be on why I failed on home turf," he said.