Development and good governance
Message from Goa
Opinion polls show country wants end of Congress’s misrule, strong anti-Congress wave sweeps the nation
Time for NDA to put a united fight
Pramod Kumar
By elevating Narendra Modi as chairman of party’s Central Election Campaign Committee at Goa National Executive, the BJP has made it clear that development and good governance will be its main poll plank. Fed up with the worst ever governance after Independence, the people want a clean and efficient government. They have high hopes from the BJP and NDA. Therefore, it is a challenge for the BJP and its partners in NDA to rise to the expectations of the people.
BJP president Shri Rajanth Singh also focused more on development in his inaugural speech. He said, “The nation can only progress when people are happy. The model for development should be holistic in approach. Any social and political problem in this country will then be easily resolved. Therefore, if our government is voted to power, our motto will be: Khushali mein haq ho sabka, pichhda rahe na koi tabaka! (Let everyone be a part of progress, with none being left behind).” He concluded his speech exhorting the cadres to strive for a decisive battle.
However, extremely disturbed over the latest elevation of Modi within the BJP, the Congress-supported pseudo secularists have ganged up against the NDA and all their efforts are aimed at breaking the unity of the NDA. They are creating rifts, even though there is no rift at all. What needs to be understood is that the real issue today is not who will be the Prime Ministerial candidate, the issue is people want development and they want a viable and solid alternative to corruption ridden Congress-led UPA. Since Narendra Modi has done commendable development work in Gujarat and he not only provided good governance but also won the hearts of the people by energising all sections of the society. People also laud his administrative acumen, management, simple living, positive approach and sense of justice. This is the spirit that basically makes him a hero of the youth, who constitute largest segment of the Indian society today. By and large the BJP is in complete election mode and by elevating Modi at a prominent position in the party it has indicated that it is ready for a decisive battle.
Fact is that the Congress has lost support in urban India and there is very much possibility that it will face one of its worst defeats in the history. Such a mood of the country was recently reflected in three surveys conducted by leading agencies last month. AC Nielsen conducted the survey for ABP News, C-Voter conducted for Headlines Today and GFK for CNN-IBN. A poll was carried out in 12 cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Patna, Chandigarh, Bhopal and Jaipur from May 7-11. The survey by ABP News-Nielsen was conducted in 21 States and covering 152 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Listing top three failures of the UPA-II the 1/3 respondents stated price rise and inflation as the biggest failure, closely followed by 1/4th respondents suggesting ‘corruption’ as the biggest failure. Listing the corruption index of Manmohan Singh nearly 3/4th respondents (71 per cent) at an overall level say the corruption levels have increased in the last one year. More than 1/3rd respondents feel that the current government is weak and lacks courage, while close to 25% think that they lack political maturity. 35 per cent feel the government is weak and lacks courage to take decisions. 23 per cent feel the UPA-II government lacks political maturity and 16 per cent say the government lacks good and talented leaders, and ministers and 10 per cent say the government’s arrogance has created mistrust with the opposition. All it clearly shows that the country wants the end of Congress’s misrule. It also suggests that a strong anti-Congress wave is sweeping the country.
On the other hand the polls indicate that Modi is a winner for NDA. The CNN-IBN poll shows the urban voter as clearly in favour of Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate, with 38 per cent preferring him over 13 per cent and 14 per cent for Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. Only six per cent preferred Sonia Gandhi.
BJP National Executive Meeting in Goa
V Shanmugnathan
The BJP National Executive Meeting held on the banks of River Mandovi in Goa concluded on May 9 with the call to make Congress Mukta Bharat Nirman and taking the lotus to every house of the country. The party exhorted the workers that the overall atmosphere in the country is favourable and it is time to channelise the public anger against corruption and Congress misrule.
The prominent development of the Goa meeting is the elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi as chairman of party’s Election Campaign Committee. The decision was welcomed by the entire nation with much fan fare. On June 9, party president Shri Rajnath Singh announced, “The country is looking up to the BJP with great hopes. We need to get prepared for the elections and Shri Narendra Modi is the most appropriate person to lead the campaign. He is the most popular Chief Minister. I am making an announcement in this national executive meeting that Shri Narendra Modi will be the Chairman of BJP’s Election Campaign Committee, keeping in mind the challenge of the BJP, 2014 Lok Sabha Elections and to achieve the victory in the polls.”
Following the announcement senior party leaders including Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Smt Sushma Swaraj and Shri Arun Jaitley garlanded Shri Modi and expressed their happiness. Then Shri Manohar Parikar, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Shri Arun Jaitley, Dr MM Joshi, Shri Rajnath Singh, Smt Sushma Swaraj, Shri Nitin Gadkari stood side by side, raised their hands to give a united picture before the executive meet. Then Shri Modi profusely thanked everyone and said, “Senior leaders have reposed faith in me.
We will leave no stone unturned for Congress–Mukt Bharat Nirman. Thanks for support and blessings”.
Earlier Shri Modi exhorted the leaders saying it is time to take a vow to work of making Congress Mukta Hindustan. “We have to channelise the public anger against corruption and Congress misrule. And there is widespread reputation and goodwill for Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This is the best moment to take the kamal to every house of India. We have to create a favourable atmosphere to bring BJP to power,” he said. Shri Modi also spoke about the importance of the year 2016. It is going to be the centenary year of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. We have to create an intellectual atmosphere in favour of integral humanism and we should give greater importance to antyodaya.
Shri Modi also explained his dream project of Statue of Unity in Gujarat. “On the day of Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary on October 31, 2013, we have to launch a nationwide campaign, covering more than five lakh villages throughout the country to collect small pieces of iron of any tool used by farmers from each village that will be used in the building of the statue.” “Statue of Unity, touted to be the tallest statue on the earth, is one of the most ambitious project of Gujarat Government in which a 182 meters (392 feet) tall statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – Iron Man of India – will be built opposite Sardar Sarovar Dam over Narmada River in South Gujarat.”
“Sardar Patel brought the nation together. To reinvigorate his memory and as a fitting tribute to the Iron Man of India, we are building this statue, which will be double in height than the Statue of Liberty in New York. Sardar Patel was also a farmer who was instrumental in bringing farmers into the freedom struggle. We are urging all farmers of the nation to donate a small piece of iron out of their tools, which were used in farming. After collecting iron from the farmers of the country it will be melted and used, as needed, to build the statue, which will be the greatest tribute to the architect of modern India.
Shri Rajnath Singh in his presidential speech appealed to the Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states that the life and works of Swami Vivekananda should be included in school curriculum of their respective states. He also highlighted the sacrifice made by Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee for the unity and integrity of India. Coming June 23rd will mark the 60th year of his sacrifice. On this occasion, we pledge to stand by the ideology of Dr Mookerjee, which was dedicated to maintain India’s national integrity.
Dr Murli Manohar Joshi introduced a draft resolution on Suraksha and Swabhiman. Shri Nitin Gadkari introduced the political resolution. The Executive Committee also congratulated Gujarat Chief Minister, state leaders, karyakartas and people of Gujarat for successfully defeating the Congress in recent by-elections of two Lok Sabha and four Assembly seats. Shri Ananth Kumar, general secretary, explained various action-oriented programmes, rallies and agitations to highlight the failures of the UPA government.
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