At a breathtaking gathering of Akali Dal-BJP supporters at Amritsar on Friday evening, Narendra Modi batted for an ‘Asian century’, said India would play a stellar role in it, and Punjab would be among the States that would shine on this spectrum. Batting for Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, one of his stalwart ally’s within his party, the BJP’s Prime Ministerial contender said we need to respond to the need of the times with new thinking; we cannot shut the doors on the 21st century, especially as it is widely predicted that this will be an Asian century.
Wherever one goes in the world, one can find a Gujarati and a Sardar/Punjabi, working hard for the welfare of that nation and for their own prosperity. India can shine on the international platform if we develop the potential of certain cities and make them the magnet for the development of the region. For instance in the north we could make Amritsar one such centre because it already attracts people due to its role as Guru Nagri, the city of the Golden Temple. Western India already has Mumbai, but we could similarly select 8 to 10 cities across the nation and stimulate an economic revolution (arthik Kranti) in the whole country.
Amritsar has endless potential, the BJP veteran said, and proposed a 5T formula (not the chai wala tea, he joked), but Trade-Tradition-Talent-Technology-Tourism, all of which are already present in the district, but need only to be united and upgraded. Once this is done, he promised, the enormous potential in tourism, which grows at an unprecedented rate of 40% worldwide, will be available, generating huge employment and prosperity. The 125 crore citizens of India are also potential yatris, he pointed out, only the Government of India has never cared for them.
The railways have hitherto had only passenger trains or good trains. But, he pointed out, there is an immense potential for the third kind of train, a Yatri train, that could set off from Patna Sahib to Amritsar Sahib. Praying that the Durbar Sahib would hear his plan, the BJP leader said that this dedicated train could be decorated as per Guru parampara, with shabad kirtan and langar and facilities for bathing for the pilgrims and once the tradition took off, add Nanded Sahib and create a religious circuit. It is easy to do and the whole world will like to undertake this journey, he predicted. This concept could be extended to the Jyotirlingas for Shiv-bhaktas, to Dwarka-Mathura-Vrindavan for Krishna-bhaktas, and so on.
Sometimes, he said, very small things can change the situation for the country. The Government of India spends huge money on advertising tourism destinations, but the tourism sector in the nation as a whole is declining on account of the inability or unwillingness to tackle issues like cleanliness and sanitation. Pleading to redress both issues by the time of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, he said the twin issues of urban cleanliness and sanitation would attract tourists like a magnet.
Sanitation is a huge corporate business now, he said, as wealth can be created from waste by generating electricity. He would, he said, fast track the development of 500 tirthas in the country by undertaking solid waste management and waste water treatment, which would change the face of the destinations, and the nation. Development, he insisted, is the remedy for all ills. The crowds waved enthusiastically to endorse his views.
Rape, he said, is another major issue behind the decline of Indian tourism. Delhi has emerged as the rape capital of the country under the nose of Sonia Gandhi, but the Government of India responds with gimmicks like allotting Rs 1000 crore for a Nirbhaya fund in the budget, ostensibly for the safety of mothers and sisters. However, one year later, not one penny was spent, and the drama was repeated in the Vote on Account; can such people change the reputation of India abroad?
Punjab, the Gujarat leader said, is the first victim of any hostile activity from Pakistan, and has suffered throughout independence. Pakistan first thought it could defeat India in war, but learnt a hard lesson. It then sponsored deadly terrorism, which also failed. Now it has launched a two-pronged attack by hitting the economy with fake currency and targetting the youth with drugs. The latter, in fact, is part of an international conspiracy by nations that do not want India to rise, he said, though he did not name any country.
The lives of 70 crore Indian youth are at stake, he warned, adding that he had seen mothers and sisters and whole families ruined by this menace. The youth must be saved if India is to be saved, he asserted, and pledged to review India’s border security on priority basis after May 16. The Border Security Force, he insisted, will have to explain what gaps there are in its arrangements that make the border so porous. Punjab is the land of heroes, if it dies, India dies.
Narendra Modi called upon Amritsar to reinvent itself as a modern city with a digital footprint, as part of his agenda for a Digital India. He lambasted the ma-beta sarkar for non-performance on a range of issues, and said the exit of Congress-UPA was assured, and all that was required was to ensure that the BJP-NDA got as high a victory as possible. The decline in Congress confidence in the election, he said, reflected in the loose language of its leaders.
Welcoming Daljit Singh Kohli, brother of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh into the BJP, Narendra Modi extolled the virtues and ability of Arun Jaitley, who, he said, had made a sterling contribution to the Gujarat model that is currently the talk of the nation. He thanked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for his efforts towards the Akali Dal-BJP victory and appealed to the people to give the alliance all 13 seats from the State.
Niticentral.com, 25 April 2014
http://www.niticentral.com/2014/04/25/in-punjab-narendra-modi-bats-for-an-asian-century-216626.html