Addressing a massive Maha Garjana Rally in Mumbai on the afternoon of Sunday 22nd December, the NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate Shri Narendra Modi gave the clarion call of VOTE INDIA to the people of the nation. Shri Modi affirmed that so far we have voted for parties but now the time has come when we have to vote for the nation. He said that “Dal Se Bada Desh Hota Hai” (the nation is bigger than any party) and that in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections the nation must not vote for any party but must vote for India! Shri Modi reaffirmed the commitment of the BJP to serving the poor of the nation and stated that for him, every poor person of India is a VIP. Reiterating that bad governance and votebank politics is the root cause of all problems, Shri Modi affirmed that nothing will change till we do not take the nation away from votebank politics and embrace the development agenda. He further noted, “BJP is committed to the Mantra of development and to the politics of development. Without development the welfare of the people is not possible.” Further elaborating, he pointed that before Independence Lokmanya Tilak said “Swaraj is my birthright” but not the people of India must say, “Surajya is my birthright.”
Launching a scathing attack against the anti-people policies of the Congress, Shri Narendra Modi said that till we do not understand the Congress Party we will not understand the problems the people face and the solution to these problems. “The root cause of our problems is Congress ruled governments. Solution to our problems is making India free from Congress,” avowed Shri Modi. He added, “This is the same land, the same Mumbai from where the call of Quit India was made and the British had to finally leave India. From the same land, let the call of a Congress Mukt Bharat (Congress Free India) come. Let the land that said Quit India say Congress Free India.”
Shri Modi accused the Congress of being immersed in votebank politics and a party that has learnt the art of divide and rule very well from the British. He shared that while Sardar Patel unified India, the Congress divided India and made brother fight with brother, villages fight with cities and even made the states fight over water. He pointed to the lack of good governance in Maharashtra, describing the Local Body Tax (LBT) as ‘Loot Baatne Ki Technique’ (a technique to share the loot). He questioned why there is so much corruption in the irrigation projects in Maharashtra. Similarly, he took on the Maharashtra Government for their refusal to act on the Adarsh scam report. Shri Modi also asked why are so many farmers committing suicide. He even took on the recent statements by the Congress Vice President on corruption, commenting that on one hand the Congress protects those in the Adarsh scam but on the other hand its leaders talk about corruption. “Congress says something, does something else,” he opined. Shri Modi recalled that with great fanfare the Centre announced separate budget for 90 districts with significant Muslim population but 3 years in Parliament the Centre admitted that not a penny had been spent on the districts.
He taunted the Congress on their silence over black money and their refusal to act in brining back black money, saying, “Under the guidance and leadership of Advani ji, all the BJP MPs signed letters that they do not have any money in Swiss Banks. Congress does not want to do that because they know that acting on black money in Swiss banks means the problems reaches their doorstep.” Contrasting this lacklustre attitude and performance of the Congress, Shri Modi praised the development work done by BJP Chief Ministers Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Dr. Raman Singh.
Shri Modi said that a youthful nation can achieve everything provided the focus is on the right areas. He took on the Central government for their lack of focus on skill development and added that the Congress party is not bothered about the youth of the nation. Shri Modi urged the Centre to allow the installation of gates on the Sardar Sarovar Dam as it can benefit Maharashtra, which would get free electricity worth crores. He took up the issue of INS Vikrant, saying that on one hand the Congress wants to break it while the Gujarat Government is collecting iron from all over India to build Statue of Unity. Shri Modi also gave an idea of a Film University to cater to the Human Resource Development potential associated with the film industry.
Responding to a statement by a BJP leader prior to his speech that the Congress was ensuring cable network shutting down, Shri Modi stated that he has seen this problem in the non-BJP states, adding that the Congress may remove Shri Modi from the cable network but he has made a place in the hearts of the people.
Shri Modi spoke about the strong bond between Gujarat and Maharashtra. He said that for the people of Gujarat, Mumbai is a second home and that Maharashtra is the elder brother of Gujarat.
BJP President Shri Rajnath Singh spoke on the occasion. He highlighted the issues of corruption and price rise and urged the people to create a Congress Mukt Maharashtra and a Congress Mukt Bharat Rashtra. Former BJP President Shri Nitin Gadkari, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Shri Gopinath Munde, Shri Vinod Tawde, Shri Eknath Khadse, Shri Ashish Shelar, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy spoke on the occasion. Former Minister Smt. Jaywantiben Meta, Shri Piyush Goyal, Smt. Kirron Kher were among those present on the occasion.
