New Delhi, Jun 14 (IANS): In a claim that will give reason for hope to many Indians, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday that the coronavirus crisis won't last long and a vaccine for the same is on the horizon.

He also asked people to shed negativity and embrace positive vibes while speaking to BJP cadres in Gujarat through a virtual rally called Jan Samvad. However, he didn't leave the opportunity to train his guns on the Congress party and its alleged failure to remove poverty.

"The corona crisis will not last long. The work for a corona vaccine in the country is taking place at a very fast pace. Our scientists as well as scientists of the world are working, day and night," claimed Gadkari. He also urged everyone to shed negativity and embrace positivity and hope in this testing time. "We will face the corona crisis with confidence, self-confidence and positivity," he asserted.

However, Gadkari soon focussed on targeting the Congress. "Congress has given the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao' (poverty removal) for 70 years. But the poverty of the poor, farmers and labourers of the country has not gone. Rather, the poverty of Congress party workers, leaders and ‘chamchas' has definitely ended," alleged the senior BJP leader as he addressed party cadres and BJP's Gujarat leadership alike.

Harping on the hawkish policy of the Modi government, Gadkari boasted, "Today, terrorists know what will happen if they do something in India. It is such a country, where a strong and capable government that can crush terrorism."

He said that the Modi government has taken internal security seriously. However, he alleged that since Pakistan knows it cannot defeat India in a face-off, it continues to bleed India by sending terrorists into the Kashmir valley.

Accusing the Congress of being sympathetic towards terrorists, Gadkari said "When I was the national president of the BJP, a martyr's father once asked me ‘why do Congress leaders go to the homes of terrorists to pay tributes but they did not even once come to my martyr son's home?' I had no answer to his question."

Stressing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for ‘self-reliant India', Gadkari said, "The country's infrastructure, water, power, transport, communication, industry are all changing. New employment is being created in the country. We have to increase the country's exports and reduce imports. We have to make the country self-sufficient, this is the message of the Prime Minister."