On the evening of 12th April, Shri Narendra Modi addressed massive rallies at Ahmednagar and Pune in Maharashtra, and appealed to the people to support the BJP-Shiv Sena-RPI Mahayuti so as to save the Nation from getting ruined further. He spoke of how the Congress’ inherent trait to exploit the Nation and its people for its personal gains had brought the country to a never-before-seen-low, and stated that the Centre was only focused on framing Acts, with no Action. Shri Modi also attributed the reason for the Nation’s severe decline to the unconstitutional hierarchy at the Prime Minister’s Office, which adhered only to the Congress President’s decisions as the last-word.
Referring to the soon-to-be-released book ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’, Shri Modi spoke of how the author had reflected upon the reasons for the Nation’s decline witnessed in the past decade. Shri Modi stated that the book clearly mentioned how Smt. Sonia Gandhi wielded the ultimate power, and had the final say in every matter pertaining to the government, be it from clearing files or appointing ministers. “In last ten years we saw a lot of decline. And a book came out Accidental PM, which has spilled the beans. A man who served in PMO in an important position, he wrote a book, and here we saw such an accident that the entire nation was ruined. He has said that Madam Sonia cleared the files first, and only then files went to the PM. Ministries were decided by Sonia ji, appointments were made by her. The remote controlled everything,” said Shri Modi.
Shri Modi said that it was after reading the book that he understood how things worked in the PMO, where the office of the PMO itself was not respected. He sought an answer from the Congress President for such weakening of the institution, and said, “I want to say- if the office of PMO is not respected by us then which nation will respect our PMs. Shouldn't Madam Sonia herself not answer the nation on the issues raised in the book? But it's been 24 hours and still there's silence. The Nation demands an answer what were the unconstitutional forces that challenged our institutions.”
Talking further on the Congress’ tendency to misuse institutes of repute for their personal gains, Shri Modi mentioned how government bodies like the National Advisory Council and CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) were used for their personal vendetta. The Centre’s recklessness in preserving the global image for our Nation was also cited by Shri Modi when he spoke of how the Foreign Minister (referring to India’s external affairs minister SM Krishna) had read out the speech of the Portuguese foreign minister at a UN meeting some time back, only to realize his goof-up nearly half hour later.
He further attacked the Congress’ lack of concern for the citizens, and their favouring policies which were meant for only a chosen few, by stating how Shri Sushilkumar Shinde was promoted as the Home Minister after he failed miserably as the Minister for Power, and how the Minister of External Affairs was promoted inspite of the corruption charges leveled against him. The scam surrounding the Common Wealth Games and the Centre’s indulgence in it was also condemned by Shri Modi, who said that the Congress had different standards for promotion.
The Congress’ failures in ensuring people’s welfare, despite the programmes it launched towards this, was underscored by Shri Modi, who questioned if any benefits had been passed on at all by programmes like the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) or the Food Security Bill. Attacking the Congress’ miserable failure, which only witnessed the framing of Acts, rather than taking the Action, Shri Modi said, “Congress knows it is facing defeat. You are hungry- see the Acts. You are uneducated - see the Acts. What kind of a joke have they reduced things to? Have you heard of a home where there is everything but children are starving? Our nation's condition is precisely like this.”
During his speech, Shri Modi also expressed reverence for Shivaji Maharaj and by recalling the mantra of ‘Swaraj is my birthright’ given by Shri Bal Gangadhar Tilak, asserted that in the current times, it was about having ‘surajya’ as our birthright.
Stating forth the potential of the BJP candidates from Maharashtra, Shri Modi assured the people that the Mahayuti was coming to them with very capable candidates, and appealed to the people to make them victorious so as to ensure a strong government in Delhi.
