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Seva, sermons, message for minorities: Modi’s exhaustive speech heralds ‘new era’ for India

Addressing allies in Parliament House, Modi urged new MPs to stay away from 'VIP culture', hit out at opponents for 'misleading minorities and cheating them'.

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New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) held a massive show of strength during its parliamentary board meeting Saturday, rallying resolutely behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing the coalition’s over 350 MPs in Parliament House, Modi claimed that this election saw a “pro-incumbency wave” and that his government would not only work for those who voted for him, but also those who didn’t.

The event was grand, with a mix of old faces and new, a dramatic endorsement of the triumphant Modi, and a long speech by him that was sprinkled with a generous dose of his usual semantics, new acronyms, and sermons to the newly-elected MPs.

It began with BJP president Amit Shah proposing Modi’s name as leader of the NDA, supported by top party leaders, including Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, along with those from other NDA constituents: From the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena, to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and crucial allies in the northeast.

Flanked by Shah on one side and veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani on the other, the PM watched as his party leaders and allies endorsed him, with the central hall reverberating with chants of “Modi, Modi”.

After a bitter, often nasty election campaign, the PM chose to adopt a more statesman-like demeanour, bowing in front of the Constitution of India before beginning to speak, urging MPs to work for the people without being “swayed by power and fame”, and stay away from the “VIP culture”.

At the same time, he hit out at “pseudo secularists”, indicating his political opponents had cheated both the poor and the minorities. He claimed minorities in this country had been made to live in “fear” and used as a mere vote-bank.

“Minorities have been betrayed for years for political interests. We have to regain the trust of all,” he said.

“We are there for those who voted for us as well as those who did not. Such a huge mandate adds to responsibilities and we are ready to take them on with new energy and enthusiasm,” Modi added.


Also read: The Mandal-Mandir era is over, make way for Modi


‘Seva not power’

The BJP is set to lead its second successive majority government, after winning 303 out of the Lok Sabha’s 543 seats in the recent election, bettering its 2014 tally of 282.

The BJP had been voted back because of its service to the people, the outgoing, and also soon-to-be-the next, prime minister said.

“People have accepted us due to our seva bhav. One has to prepare oneself to be always ready to help people even when you move through the lanes of politics and power,” Modi said.

“The 2019 Lok Sabha elections have worked towards breaking down walls and connecting hearts. In a way, they had become a way to unite society. A new era has begun,” he added.

In an evident swipe at the Congress, Modi said “democracy had matured” and Indian voters “did not like the greed for power”.

He also offered advice to the new MPs, saying they “must think before speaking, and check facts”.


Also read: India’s household debt has risen 80% in 2017-18. It could bite if incomes don’t grow


Emphasis on inclusivity

Modi spent a considerable part of his speech talking about “inclusive” politics and emphasising how “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” — a slogan the BJP had coined ahead of the 2014 polls — remained its mantra.

Also coining a new slogan, NARA or “National Ambition Plus Regional Aspiration”, Modi called for balancing the two.

To add to that image, the BJP’s allies from the south and the northeast were given visible importance as they endorsed the PM as well as felicitated him.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. After the somewhat colourful poetry of the campaign, India needs the calm, purposive prose of enlightened, tolerant, harmonising governance. The West and its media too would wish to see India as a success story, economically, socially, geopolitically.

  2. I want to say a few words in Hindi : Modi ji toh phoole nahin samaa rahey hain! Jahaa.n bhi hota hai khade ho jaate hain, aur bolna shuroo kar detay hain! Just now he came out after meeting the President and started saying the same things that he had said in a lengthy speech a little while ago, and TV channels suspended showing whatever they were showing to accommodate Mr Modi’s priceless words! He was saying something about Gandhi’s 150 years. Has no one told him that yesterday when terror-suspect Pragya Thakur won, her supporters started shouting GODSE ZINDABAD. Will Modi ji say something on that too?

  3. People who looked other way when their henchmen were lynching human beings in the minority are talking about “seva” and welfare of minorities. Hypocrisy at its peak.

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