In a veiled attack on the Nehruvian model of growth based on top-down uniform planning, Narendra Modi unveiled a more complex understanding of developmental issues based on the topography of different regions, and said that the diverse problems of the Himalayan ranges, coastal, and desert States require diverse, region-specific solutions. Addressing a mammoth Parivartan Rally in Sujanpur Tira, Himachal Pradesh, on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Prime Ministerial candidate opined that this was a major reason why some States did not progress in the past six decades.
Promising to devote special attention to regions that have lagged behind in the development journey, Narendra Modi assured visible change in just 60 months. Change, he lambasted the Centre, does not come by annually inviting Chief Ministers to speak at some meeting for 10 minutes each, but by the Prime Minister himself visiting the Himalayan States and chalking out strategies of growth with the Chief Ministers.
States of the Himalayan ranges, from Kashmir to the Northeast, he said, have different needs and the solutions of one place cannot be blindly imposed in other places. Calling for a “paradigm shift in our developmental journey,” he said the tired old formulas will not work and “we must first understand issues and then solve them. There are no tailor-made solutions. We will need to change our perspective”. Similarly, coastal States and desert States, and particularly the backward regions within States, will be singled out for special treatment in the next Government which, he assured, would be an NDA Government dedicated to the National Development Agenda. Adding that new heights of development will be reached, he insisted that “there should be no weak limbs of Bharat Mata; aapko parivartan nazar ayega”.
Recalling former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s special affection for Himachal Pradesh, Narendra Modi pointed that in · 2 Retweets Atal ji’s time, the apple farmers got good prices for their produce, but this did not continue under the UPA, and apple imports are ruining the Himachal farmer. The special package and tax incentives for industrial development given by Atal ji also disappeared under the UPA.
Mountain tourism is developed all over the world as a means of bringing employment and the fruits of development to hilly regions, and for this, a viable network of railways is imperative. But the Congress has neglected even roads, with the result that small States like Himachal expend much energy and resources in coping with bus tragedies. Even on a nationwide basis, he lamented, railway infrastructure has been neglected and all planning has been ad hoc and not conducive to growth. Tourists will not come merely by chanting ‘Incredible India’, he taunted, but in a State like Himachal, tourism can give the youth employment opportunities at home and end forced out-migration.
It is now a small world and both the domestic and foreign tourist want to travel and see as much as they can. This requires very little investment; a simple tea stall along the road can become a source of income for a family. Alluding to the Congress anger at his turning the barbs against his humble origins into the spectacular ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ initiative, he joked, “these days people get angry if I talk about tea”. Condemning the politically nurtured culture of untouchability which he had previously mentioned during his visit to Kerala, Narendra Modi said the politics of hatred (nafrat ki rajniti) should have no place in a democracy, yet one politician who praised him was expelled from his party and a Minister who met him had to furnish an explanation; even cinestar Amitabh Bachchan was questioned about his relationship with Narendra Modi. Congress “is a dynastic party and an enemy of democracy”, he said, and the country must now be rescued from its clutches. Sonia Gandhi, he said, has questioned our Statue of Unity (of Sardar Patel), but the forthcoming election is about unity.
Price rise and corruption are corroding the nation, he said. Besides failing to curb the price rise within 100 days as promised, the Congress leaders are not even willing to discuss the issue. On corruption, the Prime Minister says money does not grow on trees, but the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh shows a 14-fold increase in his income in the last three years and claims it is from the sale of apples! At the same time, top leaders of the party suddenly start spouting the wisdom of the Buddha and Ashok!
The issue of black money stashed in foreign havens is pertinent, the Gujarat chief Minister said, because it has been looted from the country and belongs to the innocent tax payers. The BJP will recover this wealth when it comes to power, he said, and will give commensurate rewards to the salaried classes who paid their taxes honestly and bore the burden of corruption stoically. Recently a leader from a rival party asked him (Modi) how many BJP leaders were in jail, Modi told the gathering, and retorted that he silenced the man by saying that the Government should just look at the record of its various Telecom Ministers. He added that it was imperative to bring the black money back because unless this was done, “new thieves” will continue to emerge.
Himachal Pradesh contributes hundreds of youth to the Armed Forces – the first Param Vir Chakra and a total of four PVC winner hail from the State – and Narendra Modi recalled their gallant sacrifices. During the Kargil war, he said, he had visited the State and seen the “passion and fearlessness” of the jawans, but lamented that a weak political leadership had left the country prey to the depredations of neighbours. “We will make India a country whose voice is heard in the world”, he thundered as the crowd roared in appreciation.
Directly challenging Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for their recent diatribes (gaalis) against him, Narendra Modi retorted that the nation was fully aware of who was doing “zeher ki kheti”. Congress has divided families, communities, States, pitted the rich against the poor and the educated against the uneducated, he charged, whereas the BJP has sowed love, the proof of which can be seen in the smoothness with which Atal ji divided the States of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to create Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
BJP president Rajnath Singh said that it was unfortunate that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has missed the opportunity provided by her historic accord with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at Shimla to demand the return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in exchange for the return of 90,000 prisoners-of-war in 1971. He lamented the India kept making agreements with Pakistan and the latter kept violating them, crossing the line of control with impunity and killing our jawans, and even beheading one, while the “Prime Minister just sat tight”. Sonia Gandhi, too, he said, kept quiet about all provocations from Pakistan and China, despite the latter staking claim to Arunachal Pradesh and giving stapled visas to citizens from Jammu and Kashmir. Manmohan Singh’s Border Defence Cooperation Agreement with Beijing “is disgraceful”, he said.
Rajnath Singh promised that the BJP would work towards creating a Swadeshi armaments industry, pointing out that a country that can send a spacecraft to study Mars cannot fail to manufacture good weapons. The party would resume Atal ji’s unfinished initiatives such as the all-weather roads from Leh to Manali and up to Delhi, which had stalled under the UPA. Farmers would be protected by a farm income insurance scheme and there would be self-employment loans for the youth. Others present at the rally included Satpal Satti; PK Dhumal; Shanta Kumar; JP Nadda; Anurag Thakur; Balbir Punj, and several religious leaders and army veterans.
Niticentral.com, 16 February 2014
http://www.niticentral.com/2014/02/16/modi-attacks-nehruvian-models-himalayan-error-190662.html