Asks NDA MPs not to fall prey to hoaxes about ministries, portfolios

STATE TIMES NEWS

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he would strive to ensure unanimity in running the next government and asserted that the NDA is not a combine of some parties to get power but an organic alliance committed to the principle of ‘nation first’.
Chosen by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance as its leader to become prime minister for the third time, Modi said the ruling combine is committed to the constitutional principle of “sarva panth sambhava (interfaith harmony)” and mutual trust was at the core of this bloc.
“If we look at numbers, then this is the strongest coalition government in the history of coalitions,” he said, asserting that the NDA has been the most successful pre-poll alliance since its existence for nearly 30 years, out of which it has served out three full terms and is set to start the fourth.
“We have never lost. Our conduct following June 4 shows that we know how to digest victory,” the prime minister said at the meeting of the NDA Parliamentary Party, and attacked opposition parties.
The result of the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls was announced on June 4.
Modi said he has been missing quality debates and participation in Parliament for 10 years and expressed hope that it may happen this time.
He said he hopes opposition leaders will be guided by national interest. “They may be in opposition to us but not to the nation. I hope they will arrive in Parliament with the sentiment of national interest,” Modi said.
“There were efforts to not acknowledge this very victory, to cast a ‘shadow of defeat’ on this victory. But all such efforts remained fruitless… Such things ‘die very young’ and it happened,” Modi said.
NDA leaders, including N Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Nitish Kumar (JDU), Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena), Chirag Paswan (LJP-RV), H D Kumaraswamy (JDS), Ajit Pawar (NCP), Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal-S), Pawan Kalyan (Jana Sena), attended the meeting along with newly elected Lok Sabha members from the ruling alliance.
With Parliament often witnessing frequent disruptions in the past due to deep acrimony between the ruling coalition and opposition parties, Modi struck a conciliatory note.
Having a “bahumat (majority)” is necessary to form government but “sarvmat (consensus or unanimity)” is much needed for running the country, he said.
“I want to assure people of the country that you have given us the good fortune to run the government by handing us a majority, and it has then become our responsibility that we continuously strive to ensure unanimity in taking the country forward,” Modi said.
“For me the NDA stands for New India, Developed India, Aspirational India,” he said, lauding the leading architects of the alliance, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, George Fernandes, Bal Thackeray, Sharad Yadav and Parkash Singh Badal.
Modi congratulated the victorious NDA leaders and said he must salute the lakhs of ground workers who worked to ensure this victory.
“This is the most successful alliance in the history of our country. It has completed three successful terms and is now entering its fourth. The NDA is not a grouping of parties that have come together to get power, it is committed to the principle of ‘nation first’,” he added.
He noted that the BJP-led NDA is in power in seven of the 10 states where Scheduled Tribes are in large numbers and also in Goa and North Eastern states where Christians are in sizeable numbers.
Modi said that the “INDI alliance” parties have already started saying they came together only for the Lok Sabha polls. Such an approach shows their character and hunger for power, he said.
“Our 10 years were just a trailer. We will work much harder and faster for the development of our country. People know that we will deliver,” Modi said.
The prime minister said he had been missing parliamentary debates and hoped that the opposition MPs also contribute to nation-building when they come to Parliament.
Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the opposition party could not even touch the 100-seat mark, and that their total seats in the last three Lok Sabha polls were fewer than the BJP’s tally in this election alone.
“We are glad to note that for the first time one of our representatives has emerged victorious in Kerala. We have been having a brilliant performance in Arunachal Pradesh. In Sikkim also, we (NDA) have almost registered a ‘clean sweep’. In Andhra Pradesh, it is a historic victory. The way NDA’s vote share has increased in Tamil Nadu clearly shows what is in the offing,” Modi said.
“In the last 10 years, we worked to make the country touch new heights of success. A common thing that exists amongst all the leadership pillars of the NDA is good governance,” Modi said.
“Whenever given the chance to serve, each and every leader of the NDA has ensured good governance across Bharat. The NDA has become synonymous with good governance,” he said.
The Prime Minister urged NDA MPs not to fall prey to hoaxes about ministries and portfolios and claimed the “INDI Alliance” could also indulge in spreading “fake news” about such issues.
Modi said he did not find much truth in what was being aired on TV in the last couple of days.
“I did not find any truth in what is being run. I said one should ask where do they get such information from. There had not been such an occasion in the last 10 years, so there will be such excitement. Some people reach out to you and say they have high contacts and will make you minister… We fall for it thinking this could be a way to become a minister,” PM Modi said.
He said now technology is such that people could also come out with a list of ministers with even his signatures on it.
“Some intelligent person may also distribute portfolios. A lot of people are busy in forming government these days, distributing ministries and posts. I request you, those who know Modi, know that all such attempts are useless. If you get a phone call, verify that they are from the authority concerned or not,” he said.
“So there is an entire army indulging in such rumour-mongering. Some people do it habitually, some do it for entertainment while some do it with ill-intentions. I urge all MPs not to fall prey to such conspiracies,” he said.
PM Modi alleged that during the Lok Sabha elections, the “INDI Alliance” perfected themselves in spreading “fake news” and have done a “double PhD in it. They will make use of such tactics. We should stay away from such things, stay away from rumours,” he said.
Referring to senior leaders, PM Modi said the team that was sitting there was experienced and gave him the right advice .
“That is why the team will make the right decisions jointly. Be rest assured that the country will not run on the basis of breaking news,” he said.

India to scale ‘new heights’ under Modi’s leadership, say NDA partners

New Delhi: After President Droupadi Murmu appointed NDA Parliamentary Party leader Narendra Modi as prime minister-designate, leaders of the BJP and those of its coalition partners congratulated him and said the country will scale “new heights” of progress under his leadership in the next five years.
Modi will take oath as prime minister for a third consecutive term on Sunday after Murmu invited him to form the government.
Murmu appointed Modi as prime minister-designate on Friday after BJP chief JP Nadda handed her a letter on Modi’s election as leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders submitted their letters of support.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu asserted that his party will remain part of the NDA and provide its complete support to the coalition government under Modi for nation building, fulfilling regional aspirations and formulation of public welfare schemes.
“We conveyed the same during the NDA meeting also that we will stay with the NDA and there will be no confusion on it in the next five years as the people of Andhra Pradesh have given their mandate to the NDA. The people have given responsibility to us. We will fulfil the duty that people have assigned to us with their mandate and play a significant role,” Naidu told PTI.
Asked if his party had demanded the Lok Sabha speaker’s position for being part of the NDA, the TDP leader said, “We have not made any specific demand. But we definitely want due respect in the NDA.”
He claimed that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government destroyed Andhra Pradesh during its rule and the TDP wants the NDA government at the Centre to provide all possible help for the progress of the state and its people.
The BJP’s Anurag Thakur, reelected from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, congratulated Modi on being elected as NDA Parliamentary Party leader and said the country will scale new heights of progress under his leadership.
“The people of the country want a stable government. The people of the country want to see a powerful and honest leader at the helm,” he told PTI.
Senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Odisha’s Sambalpur, said the NDA government will do “much better” this time.
“We will work much harder in national interest,” he told PTI.
Congratulating Modi, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan said people of the country are waiting for Modi to take oath and fulfil his promises.
“The entire country has given a mandate to Prime Minister Modi and, honouring this mandate, all NDA constituents have endorsed his leadership to fulfil his resolve of making India a developed country,” he told PTI.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Singh said the same energy and zeal with which Modi worked in the last 10 years will take the country forward on the path of progress.