New Delhi: As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections Monday, it appeared as if external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and home minister Rajnath Singh were in a stiff competition to outdo each other in praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At the event where the party outlined its promises if voted back to power — including building the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uniform Civil Code and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill — senior BJP leaders, like party president Amit Shah, finance minister Arun Jaitley, Swaraj and Singh were present alongside Modi.
All the leaders spoke in the presence of Modi, who made the concluding speech.
While Jaitley mentioned the prime minister only thrice in his nine-minute speech, adulation flowed freely in Singh and Swaraj’s address. ThePrint takes a look at how the speeches panned out for the two Union ministers.
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‘Inspired’ ideas
In his 25-minute speech, Singh praised the prime minister and his “netritva” (leadership) 18 times.
Singh’s address centered around the developmental changes in the country over the last five years. From congratulating the prime minister for his many achievements to using personal anecdotes of conversation with Modi to launch certain schemes, the home minister didn’t stop at anything in praising him.
With the BJP promising to extend the PM-KISAN scheme to all farmers in its manifesto, Singh credited Modi for the ‘inspired’ idea.
“I remember, the PM once said, it’s strange that only a section of the farmers benefit from this scheme,” Singh said.
“He felt all farmers should be able to avail the scheme.”
‘Awards’ for Modi
Focusing on Modi’s achievements abroad, Swaraj, in her 10-minute speech, mentioned the prime minister 13 times.
The foreign minister individually mentioned the five awards the prime minister has been conferred with by Saudi Arabia, Palestine, United Arab Emirates, South Korea and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Lashing out at those who criticised Modi’s frequent foreign travel, Swaraj said he has helped improve India’s standing across the world.
“The OIC (Organisation of Islamic Nations) ignored Pakistan’s objection and upheld participation. That is what PM Modi has achieved globally,” she said.
With an average of over one mention a minute, Swaraj beat Singh by a fair margin — the home minister averaged a little less than one mention a minute.
However, both the leaders asserted that people’s faith in Modi has only grown over the last five years.
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