Urging the youth to maintain the exemplary high voting of the first three phases of polling in the remaining phases of the election, Narendra Modi exhorted young and aspirational India not to let the momentum of change slacken and ensure that political parties that do not believe in development and resort to the discredited tactics of creating caste divides and instilling communal fears are voted out of office. “The kamal (lotus) in your heart and mind must reflect on your finger on voting day”, he insisted.
Addressing his first 3D rally of the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign on Friday (the scheduled programme of April 7 was cancelled due to a technical glitch), the BJP’s Prime Ministerial contender said that the heavy polling of the first three phases has caused deep demoralisation in the Congress which sees defeat staring in its face and does not know what to do. The nation is fed up with the Congress because it has ruined the country and betrayed all dreams and aspirations for 60 long years, despite all the trust reposed in it. Rajiv Gandhi, he recalled, was given a greater mandate than even Pandit Nehru, but what was the result, he asked, and answered, only more corruption. With every successive mandate, the evils of the Congress regime increased, and this will go on until they are decisively punished or they will have no incentive to improve. The nation is not willing to suffer their false promises anymore, he said.
The heavy polling of the first three phases does not only indicate that the winds of change are blowing, but reflects the hopes, aspirations and the optimism of the people in our vibrant democracy. As the world watches, he said, the results on May 16 would show that all calculations made by political pundits have gone awry as the arithmetic of caste, community and previous voting percentages will fail and only the mental chemistry of 125 crore citizens, fuelled by their dreams, hopes, aspirations, desire for security and safety for their mothers and daughters, and above all, their determination to rise above the tag of a poor and backward country, will triumph. We will be a powerful nation (shakti-shali rashtra) he promised.
Emphasising that he was seeking votes only on the twin issues of good governance (su-shasan) and development (vikas), Narendra Modi insisted that he did not want votes based on jati, biradari or community, but on the principles of unity, integrity, brotherhood and amity (ekta, akhandata, bhaichara, sadbhavana). Gujarat is far ahead of many Indian States, he said, “not because of Modi, but because we have followed these principles. The BJP manifesto stands for Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat (one India strong India) to be achieved with the motto, sabka saath sabka vikas”. This, he explained, would be possible when the Government and the people synergize their energies because Government is not just about coming to power, but doing good with power.
For too long, we have been considered a backward country, but today, his 3D rally that touches over 20 States and over 100 locations, is showing the world something unusual. “I am using state of the art technology to take your blessings,” he told his listeners. Expressing pride that in the 2012 Gujarat vidhan sabha elections, he had used this technology for the first time in the world, reaching out to 53 locations, a feat recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records, he expressed pleasure that 18 months later, he was breaking his own record.
This has been made possible by the youth, and a focus on technology for enhancement of the quality of life is an important landmark that needs to be achieved in the future. Calling for a Digital India that will reach the remotest village, Narendra Modi said that the real 3D of India is its Demographic Dividend, its Democracy, and Demand, and together they will make the great India of the past return in the future. Promising to continue his public rallies across the nation as at present, the BJP leader said he would simultaneously reach out to the electorate at more and more locations through 3D rallies as well.
The pulsating energy in the country has disappointed the mother son duo, he said, and the Government leaders and party spokespersons are suddenly taking a keen interest in ideology, saying that they stand for this and BJP stands for that, and so on. Rubbishing these claims, Narendra Modi said that the truth is that Congress said that India is like a beehive (from which honey can be extracted) but BJP believes the nation is Bharat Mata (to be worshipped), and for Congress the country is only a land (bhumi) but for BJP it is matrubhumi (motherland) and that is the difference between the two parties, which the country is recognising.
Challenging the Congress for promising 10 crore jobs and providing only 1.5 crore jobs in 10 years, and throwing dirt upon the BJP for asking questions of it, Narendra Modi said elections are the greatest celebration of democracy, and applauded the youth for the interest and enthusiasm shown in understanding the issues before the nation and voting in strength with their families. Youtube, Twitter and Facebook reflected all this energy of the youth, he said appreciatively. Young digital India joined the election and sharpened the national debate, they voted despite the heat, resulting in a 20 per cent higher voter turnout, and this momentum bodes well for democracy and must be maintained. The Gujarat strongman expressed sorrow for the lives of security personnel who died during the election process in order to protect the right of the citizens to vote, and promised that their blood would not go in vain.
During his tours, he said, he found the issues that resonated most with the poor was the desire for good education for children so that they could rise in life, and the task before the new government would be to ensure that Government schools give quality education to the children of the poor so that they can face the world with confidence and move ahead in life.
Another priority will be health, because today a single illness in a family can ruin its economy completely. Lamenting the neglect in this sector for the last 60 years, he appreciated the steps taken by Dr Harshvardhan under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime to make India polio free. The next landmark should be to free India of diarrhoea which takes the lives of young children. He said it pained him that the Prime Minister once said that nutrition is the biggest challenge before the nation, but handed over a Committee under his leadership to the Planning Commission after a single meeting. Child nutrition, he said, is something that the BJP will take up in mission mode. A related challenge is maternal and infant mortality.
Narrating the Gujarat experience in improving these parameters, he reiterated the promise in the BJP manifesto for AIIMS type hospitals in each State to meet the needs of the expanding population, rising disease, and said at the same time, the next paradigm is preventive health care, for which sanitation is an intrinsic factor, which had been envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi years ago. The challenge here, he said, is to focus on solid waste management and waste water treatment in the cities, using the latest technology; treated waste water could irrigate nearly farms and used for growing vegetables, which will boost nutritional standards of the whole population. For a start, 500 towns would be selected for this holistic treatment. All this will cumulatively impact the tourism sector, where low investment yields high returns for the economy and the unorganized sector.
Niticentral.com, 11 April 2014