Amidst the ongoing election campaigning in Gujarat, PM Modi's rally spree continued as he addressed public meetings in Gujarat’s Netrang, Kheda and Surat today. PM Modi highlighted about the Sankalp Patra released by the state BJP unit for developed Gujarat. He said, “Several resolutions have been taken in the Sankalp Patra to increase the economy of Gujarat, to empower the poor, middle class of the state and for Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas.”
Highlighting how the Double-engine sarkar has ensured faster progress in Gujarat, PM Modi said, be it toilets, gas connections, tap water or electricity connections, all these works have witnessed unprecedented speed in the last 8 years. Tribal families could not even think about them earlier. Today these facilities are reaching every house.”
PM Modi talked about how the BJP government has given direct help to the poor. “As a result of pro-poor policies, more than 3 crore houses have been built under PM Awas Yojana. In this, the central government has sanctioned more than 10 lakh pucca houses for the poor of Gujarat. Of these, 7 lakh have been completed. And the large number of houses are allocated to tribal families,” he added.
Sharing an incident, PM Modi also mentioned how people from rural areas have benefited from the affordable internet data. He shared the gathering that he was late by two minutes here because he wanted to meet two tribal brothers, Avi and Jay. He said, “Avi is 9th standard student while Jay is in 6th. Their parents died 6 years ago due to illness. One was 8 years old and the other was 2 years old then. Both were surviving on their own. Their video story came to my notice and I called CR Patil to do something. I was sitting in Delhi but managed to make arrangements for them. They have own house, fan, computer, TV, all facilities. One today said he wants to become collector, other wants to become engineer.”
Highlights from Kheda public meeting
Addressing his second rally of the day in Gujarat’s Kheda, the PM said, “The difference between the BJP and its opponents is that we serve the poor, while parties like the Congress only have cheated the poor. We have done so much for the poor in the country in just eight years, but the Congress kept on giving the slogan of 'Garibi Hatao' for decades. Today even the renowned experts of the world are agreeing that due to the efforts of the BJP government, poverty is reducing rapidly in the country.”
Thrashing the Congress party for demanding proofs from the armed forces for their surgical strike, PM Modi said, "When the country was fighting a decisive battle against terrorism, they wanted to mislead the country and weaken the fight.” He listed down incidents during which the Congress shed tears on the killings of terrorists. Also, he went on to hit out the previous government for 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
The PM said, “No one can forget how the then Congress government sitting in Delhi used to spend energy in releasing the terrorists. Gujarat had for a long time been a target of terrorism. People of Gujarat were killed in explosions in Surat and Ahmedabad. Congress was at centre then, we asked them to target terrorism but they targeted me instead. Terrorism was at peak in the country. This is the double engine government of BJP, which is continuously working to curb terror. Your one vote in 2014 has helped a lot in eradicating terrorism.”
Highlights from Surat public meeting
In his final rally of the day, Prime Minister Modi iterated, “When the economy expands, everyone benefits from it. When the economy progresses, the poor also progress, the businessmen and entrepreneurs also progress. When the BJP government came to power at the centre in 2014, the country's economy was at number 10. In just eight years, the country's economy has now come at number 5.”
At the public meeting in Surat, PM Modi said, “Today Gujarat has transformed from a trading state to a manufacturing state. 20 years ago there used to be manufacturing worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore in Gujarat. Today, Gujarat has manufacturing worth more than Rs 16 lakh crore. Gujarat never built cycles before, today even airplanes are going to be made in the state. Surat's textile sector is an example of how the situation has changed. There were 2.5 lakh looms here 20 years ago, today there are more than 7 lakh.”
PM Modi also raised the issue of safety and security of the people of Surat. He said, “Earlier, there was an issue of national security and the security of traders and businessmen. The new generation here has not seen the bomb blasts in Surat or the serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad. I want to caution our youth, the people of Surat to stay away from people who are well-wishers of terrorists.” He also slammed the Congress party for not taking action against the masterminds of terror and said that instead of taking action against them, the grand old party was conspiring to label Hindus as terrorists.
The PM further said, “We don't even spare the terrorists and rather kill the masterminds of terror by breaking into their homes. Such action for the security of the nation and the protection of its citizens cannot be taken by parties like Congress and other parties who are only involved in votebank and appeasement politics”
At the end, he also urged people of Surat to vote for the BJP in large numbers in the upcoming assembly elections.
