Development has to be all inclusive, says Narendra Modi

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday flayed ‘pseudo-secularists’ for resorting to vote-bank politics, and cautioned Muslim community members from falling prey to them. Modi also said that vote-bank politics was the reason why Muslim community was lagging behind in education and development.

Modi made the comments at a programme organised by Ajmeri Charitable & Education Trust and Ajmeri Muslim Samaj to felicitate bright students. A large number of students, including girls, and members of Ajmeri Muslim community were present at the programme.

"I can say without any fear that you have been repeatedly defrauded. Till when shall this continue? Instead of treating you as humans, those resorting to vote-bank politics have looked upon you only as votes and remembered you only at the time of elections," Modi thundered, drawing a huge cheer from the audience.

Instead of working for education and all-inclusive development, the rulers divided the society into majority and minority, he said further.

The CM spoke at length about how education was the solution to all problems. He pointed out the various initiatives of the Gujarat government in the fields of education and human resource development.

Modi also said that development has to be all-encompassing and all-inclusive.

"The development will remain incomplete even if a single sections of the society is weak. Unfortunately, the rulers of the past were more interested in vote-bank politics. This is why a country like India, with its vast resources, has still not become powerful," he said.

He said that all sections of the society were growing in a healthy manner in Gujarat. The CM spoke of various measures taken by the government for skill development among youth and women.
Modi also said that Gujarat was falsely projected as a communal state. He pointed out that a so-called secular state like West Bengal, with a Muslim population of 25%, had only 2% Muslims in government jobs.

"On the other hand, Gujarat, which is widely projected as communal, has a Muslim population of 9%, but the community accounts for 5% government jobs," he stated. He appealed the Ajmeri Muslims to contribute to the state's growth.