Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today lambasted at the Congress-led UPA Government’s vote bank politics hell bent on destroying India’s very fabric of democratic federal structure.
Speaking as the chief guest on the 42nd anniversary of Cho Ramaswamy’s magazine ‘
Tughlak’ in Chennai, he said the UPA Government has pushed the nation to the brink of crises like corruption, inflation and terrorism, consistently ignoring the vision of 120-crore strong people, comprising a vast youth power. The Union Government has adopted a policy of coercive federalism, instead of co-operation, necessary in a democracy with federal structure.
He said that the UPA Government has miserably failed in solving the common man’s problems and in implementing the rule of ‘good governance’, pushing the States to a subordinate position by centralizing and capturing all power. In the name of development, the Centre has monopolized all powers of financial allocations, reducing even the Constitutional rights of the States.
Post-Independence, the Congress party’s single party rule of negative vote bank politics for almost 40 years has spread an atmosphere of gloom and pessimism in the country. There is no direction. The government just maintains a status quo. The UPA Government is neck deep in trouble, owing to its explicit greed for power and position. It is least concerned about consolidation and expansion of its economy. The present government is by far the most corrupt government after Independence.
Mr. Modi said that the ‘Gujarat Model’ of development is already paying dividends and as it has generated a lot of hope amidst widespread gloom. Gujarat’s is capable of changing the political situation. Even as Gujarat’s annual growth rate exceeds 10 per cent, its mantra, “Gujarat’s development for India’s development”, could play a decisive role in India’s economy, too. He pointed out that Gujarat’s corruption-free good governance has come in for accolades from the world over, but the Congress-ruled Union Government is just reluctant to extend any incentive, let alone any assistance, to Gujarat. In fact, the UPA Government has spared no stone unturned as part of individualistic vindictive policy to single out and target certain states only.
In a gross misuse of Constitutional authorities and institutions like CBI, Intelligence Bureau and Income-Tax Department, Mr. Modi said, the Union Government in power has apparently instructed them: “If you don’t like a political leader, try to destroy him by any means.”
The Gujarat Government and Gujarat’s Chief Minister has to bear the brunt of the harassment, but the present incumbent doesn’t know how to bow down, as he is backed by the people of Gujarat. However, he said, the Centre’s this negative and retrograde politics of divide and rule is eating into the very fabric of India, pushing the nation to the brink of doom.
He cited the Centre’s rejecting the Gujcoc Bill, without weighing the gravity of international security, as a glaring example of the Centre’s attitude. He enlisted the communal violence Bill and the bid to reserve 4.5 per cent quota for the minorities from 27 per cent quota for OBC as another example of majority-minority vote bank politics.
“India is in need of clean and transparent governance in the 21st Century. A strong, stable and transparent leadership is the demand of the time,” he said.
If India has to become a global power, he said, there is a need for vision to ensure development of the youth’s skills, agricultural growth, infrastructure development, a strong manufacturing sector and create job opportunity for 50 million. India’s youth power is set to increase by 250 million in the years to come. It is this youth power which should be the growth engine of the nation’s economy. The vote bank policy is unlikely to continue any longer.
Talking about his Tamil Nadu counterpart, Mr. Modi described Selvi Jaylalitha as a courageous and visionary leader who is capable of guiding the destiny of TN as a most progressive state. “She is a leader who can give good governance and a corruption-free government,” he said and congratulated the people of TN for voting her back to power in the state.
Mr. Modi said that both Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are moving in the direction of good governance and development.
He praised the efforts to create a public awareness about the social and political issues by Mr. Cho Ramaswamy to educate people through his magazine ‘
Tughlak’.
Mr. Narendra Modi also extended warm greetings to the people on the auspices of Pongal.
