Vajpayee govt conducted nuclear tests 20 years ago, other governments never had similar courage: PM Modi 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India was able to successfully carry out nuclear test - Operation Shakti - over two decades ago on this very day because the government was courageous enough to undertake such a task. 

Other governments didn't have similar courage, Modi said while addressing an election rally in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.  

"You can achieve this only if your priority is national security. Only then can you have the courage to take a decision for a nuclear test," he added. 

"I salute the scientists who brought laurels to the country with their hard work. This historical incident in 1998 proves what strong political willpower can do for national security," PM Modi said. 

"India always had such an ability but the governments prior to the Vajpayee government didn't have the courage to take such a decision," he noted.

Slamming the opposition, the prime minister said that they were only interested in "asking what is the caste of Modi".

"Modi has only one caste - the caste which all the poor of this country belong to. Those who consider themselves poor, I belong to their caste," he added.