BackNarendra Modi promises to cleanse politics
Modi says the 21st century should meet the aspirations of the people, provide employment to youth
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New Delhi: Blaming the ruling Congress party and regional outfits for holding back the country’s development, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi vowed to cleanse politics and provide good governance if voted to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
In his first public meeting in Bhubaneswar after being named the BJP’s choice for the top post, Modi said the 21st century should meet the aspirations of the people, provide employment to youth, offer better health facilities, and ensure security to women and education to the people.
“The 2014 Lok Sabha election is not about which political party will form the government at Centre. It is also not about becoming a member of Parliament (MP). The general election this time will be about cleansing of the country," said Modi. He accused the Congress of being responsible for the price rise and corruption in the country, noting the party has been in power for about 60 years since independence.
“What has the Congress party given to the country? These leaders come to Odisha but do they ever talk about price rise? Big political leaders have visited the state but have they spoken anything about corruption? Why are they quiet? What the Congress party has not been able to do in 60 years, BJP will do in 60 months," he said.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was in Odisha on 9 February.
Modi also hit out at the attempts by smaller and regional political parties to forge a Third Front-like bloc before the Lok Sabha election, saying these parties come together only before general elections and had helped the Congress party in the past.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led by Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik is a part of a recently formed non-Congress, non-BJP bloc that includes the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Modi urged the people of Odisha to ignore the alliance’s constituents, saying these parties only helped the Congress to form the government at the Centre. The Gujarat chief minister said that whenever the Congress party was in trouble, the political parties that constitute the Third Front had rescued it.
“There are 11 parties that form the Third Front. They start talking about the alliance just before the general election but nine of these 11 parties have helped Congress to form the government—the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Left parties in West Bengal," said Modi.
He blamed the Congress and the other parties for the lack of development in eastern states, which include Odisha.
Modi said BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Goa and Gujarat, all on the country’s west, had seen development. “Eastern part of India is facing the problem of unemployment most. Eastern part of the country has all the governments which form the Third Front," Modi said. He also launched a personal attack on Patnaik, saying widespread poverty in Odisha would disappoint his politician father, the late chief minister Biju Patnaik.
“Do you agree Odisha is poor? Who is responsible for it? Biju Patnaik will be the unhappiest person to see the state in this condition. Development will be the best tribute to Biju Patnaik," Modi told a public rally.
“Naveen Patnaik has completed 14 years as chief minister of the state. Why is it that people of Odisha have to come to Gujarat to find work? Why is it that Ganjam, which is the district of the chief minister, still gets water delivered by train? The chief minister has ruined the state. I want to request the people to bring a government that works for development," Modi added.
Political experts say Modi decided to target Patnaik’s government in Odisha and the Third Front because BJP leaders are not sure whether Patnaik will join hands with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or the Third Front post the election.
The BJD has in the past allied with BJP in 1998 until 2009.
This time, “BJP leaders are unsure which way BJD will go after the Lok Sabha election," said Kanpur-based political analyst A.K. Verma. Also, “the entire argument that eastern part of India has developed less in comparison to western parts is not agreeable. There are many areas in the west that have not developed. This kind of statement is not politically mature," Verma said.
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