STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Sunday that the BJP’s return to power with a strong mandate is the first condition for India to realise its big goals as he exhorted thousands of party members to work with renewed energy, vigour and enthusiasm for the next 100 days to ensure a big victory.
Addressing nearly 11,500 BJP delegates from across the country at Bharat Mandapam here, he said he is seeking power not for “satta bhog” (enjoying power) but for the country’s benefit, and slammed the opposition, especially the Congress, saying they make all kinds of false promises but lack a road map for making the country developed.
This is something only the BJP can do, he said, exuding confidence about his return to power while noting that many foreign countries have invited him for engagements in July, August and September. This suggests that these countries also know that “aayega toh Modi hi” (Modi’s re-election is inevitable).
In his 65-minute valedictory speech at the BJP’s national convention ahead of the Lok Sabha elections expected in April-May, the prime minister stuck to the message of the country’s growth and rising global standing besides his government’s measures for empowering every section of society, especially the poor.
He asked BJP members to connect with all sections of society, including those who have not been inclined to the party, saying they have to earn the trust of everyone.
When everyone makes an effort, then the BJP will win more than 370 seats and the NDA led by it 400-plus seats in the 543-member House, he said.
“We have to connect with everyone, not for forming government but to build the country,” he said.
Taking an aim at critics who wondered if he would be able to handle foreign policy, he said India’s ties with West Asia is at its strongest and noted that he was the first prime minister in a few decades to visit the UAE. The Congress government used to look at West Asia through the prism of Pakistan, he said.
Five Arab countries have bestowed their highest honours on him.
Modi said the nation no longer thinks and dreams small. It now has big dreams and has taken big resolutions to make India a developed country by 2047, he added.
“The next five years are going to be crucial. We have to take a big leap towards ‘Viksit Bharat’. The first condition for realising the big goals for the country is to ensure the return of the BJP to power with a strong mandate,” he said.
He said the Congress is riven by internal divisions not due to ideological differences but over its stand on him as one section believes in tarnishing his image by all means, including personal attacks, while another wants to avoid this approach.
How confused the Congress is, he said. “Abusing Modi and levelling false allegations against me have become the single-point agenda of its leaders,” he said, claiming that the party is the mother of politics of nepotism, appeasement and corruption.
He also accused the Congress of seeking to divide the nation along regional and language lines.
Addressing the delegates who repeatedly raised slogans cheering him, Modi asserted that the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has ended the centuries-long wait and mentioned the matter among some of the achievements of his government, including the opening of Kartarpur Sahib corridor, repeal of Article 370 and women’s reservation.
He spoke at length about his government’s numerous initiatives to empower women and asserted that he is the only prime minister who raised from the Red Fort the issues of toilets and use of derogatory words for women.
The prime minister said that even opposition leaders are now raising slogans in favour of more than 400 Lok Sabha seats for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), in an apparent reference to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Congress leaders have, however, described Kharge’s remarks as a swipe at the BJP’s claim.
“But, for NDA to cross 400, the BJP will have to cross the milestone of 370,” Modi said.
The prime minister said fulfilling the dreams of crores of women, poor and youth is his mission.
“We rid the country of mega scams and terror attacks, and made efforts to improve the living standards of the poor and the middle class,” he said.
He said 10 years of unblemished governance and pulling 25 crore people out of poverty were no ordinary feats. “If I had thought of my home, it would not have been possible to build homes for crores of people,” he said.
“A senior leader once told me ‘I have done enough as PM and CM, I should take it easy now’. But I am working for ‘rashtraniti’, not ‘rajneeti’,” he said.
The prime minister said he lives by the ideals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and takes inspiration from him.
“My efforts are dedicated to the people of India. The dreams of Indians are my commitments,” Modi said.
In the times to come, there will be plenty of opportunities for “our mothers, sisters and daughters”, the prime minister said.
The Northeast was completely ignored by earlier governments, he said, “but we do not work for votes and seats.”
He said his Council of Ministers had a record representation of leaders from the Northeast and Other Backward Classes as well.
“For the first time, a woman has become a member of the Rajya Sabha from Nagaland. We are proud that for the first time we have given a place to a person from Tripura in the Council of Ministers,” he said. “For the first time in our government, Arunachal Pradesh has got a cabinet minister,” Modi said.