- Dr Shakti Kumar Pandey-
If the political Maha Kumbha of BJP in Prayag is any indication, UP is poised for change – and significantly this time it is not with any religious overtone, like the one of Ayodhya movement, but with a stronger and sustainable agenda of development. The pronouncement was made by not a lesser figure than Narendra Modi himself whose magic bagged the largest ever seats for BJP from UP in the Lok Sabha polls. The ‘Parivartan Rally’ organised by the BJP in Allahabad soon after its National Executive seems to be a real game changer. Shri Modi urged the people to give him a chance, and was bold enough to assert that “If I do not succeed in changing the face of UP in five years, then throw me out”.
The BJP has succeeded in setting its tone of poll campaign by mobilising the common man irrespective of their caste and creed, while the SP and BSP leaders keep busy calculating the caste percentage and how big chunk of Muslim vote bank they can claim. The BJP leaders of the State left Allahabad with enthusiasm, as during rally at Parade Ground they could read people’s faith and confidence in their tallest leader, Shri Narendra Modi, who succeeded in mesmerising the US and other western countries of late by his progressive and development-oriented politics. Not surprising that Vikramajeet Maurya, Harsh Vardhan Bajpai and a large number of popular leaders from Samajwadi and Bahujan Samaj Party leaders decided and joined the BJP the very next day in the presence of State president Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Prime Minister baffled his political opponents when he declared that Uttar Pradesh needed a ‘Vikas Yajna’ that would free the State from the strangles of nepotism, casteism and criminalisation. “A new Vikas Yajnas in Uttar Pradesh will remove the evils of nepotism, casteism and criminalisation that has troubled the State for several years”, the PM added. Shri Narendra Modi has realised that the problems of UP lie in unemployment, poverty, crime, corruption and illiteracy. And therefore he wants to hit at the roots of these evils. He noted the problems that youth in the State suffered due to lack of opportunities. Providing employment opportunities to the youth have been a major focus for his Government, he said. “The hardships that the elders faced, we don't want the youth to face those hardships.” He questioned, “Without development, how can the youth of India would get employment opportunities?”
The offensive diatribe of Modi leaves Maya-Mulayam duo perspiring when he proclaimed that Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party ruled the State for several years and kept on making allegations against each other. Mayawati and Mulayam Singh have ‘jugalbandi’ (shadow boxing), with each other coming to power on alternative election seasons, and they both flourished in caste politics and corruption. He also added that until this trend stops, development is a distant dream for UP.
The State politics has taken a turn since the last Lok Sabha elections when people had realised that they have constantly been cheated by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, which are basically the family units, lacking the spirit of democracy and public welfare in mind. They voted the BJP en-block. People now understand that these parties have no national interest, and therefore they have always been looking for BJP as a better option. They haven’t forgotten that the ‘Iron Lady’ has proved her mettle only in making billions and billions of rupees by constructing the graveyards and so-called monuments. And now she has started taking the ‘Advance Money’, which amounts in crores, for Assembly tickets. Similarly, the Samajwadi Party does not know what to tell the people as their five years’ achievement, except the higher crime rate, communal riots, Azam’s university, Muslim appeasement and real estate Mafiosi exemplified in Mathura massacre.
He said, in contrast, wherever there was a BJP-led Government, the State had prospered at fast rate. “When Kalyan Singhji and Rajnath Singhji served in UP, the State developed greatly. Development is our priority. Development has always been a priority for BJP in Uttar Pradesh”, he added. “In Haryana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and other BJP ruled states we have displayed zero tolerance for corruption and working hard towards developing the states and empowering youths,” the PM emphasised.
Shri Modi knows that the there is a large gap to be filled by the BJP. He highlighted several measures of the BJP-led NDA Government at Centre that were leading the country on the path of progress and uplifting the poor and marginalised to lead a better life. He shed light on how his Government had taken up the work to electrify rural India in mission mode.
Citing pro-farmer steps taken by his Government, the PM talked about the ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’. The PM said that it was the most farmer-friendly crop insurance scheme launched after independence. He also spoke at length about the on-going developments in the Infrastructure sector. “The pace of building roads, railway infrastructure is the highest. Highest coal production happened after our Government assumed office,” he added.
Vision in Action
During the National Executive the BJP leaders claimed that now it was the only pan-India party as the Congress was “shrinking” by the day. A special resolution passed at the two-day national executive of the BJP said, “The BJP is the party of Bharat’s present — it will be the party of Bharat’s future.” “The (recent Assembly poll) results have once again demonstrated the popularity and admiration Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government enjoy. It is evident from the victory and the formation of the BJP government in Assam and the growth of vote percentage in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal.
“These results have strengthened the all-encompassing expansion of the party in states,” it said. The economic and political resolutions dwelled on achievements of the Modi government in two years and its role in expanding the party and its success in the recently concluded five-State Assembly elections.
The economic resolution reflected Modi’s contribution to the growth and development of the country, while the political resolution was about his vision and ideology.
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