The Bharatiya Janata Party made it clear on Friday that the party is going to rally Brand Modi in a big way and make 2019 Lok Sabha polls a 'Modi versus All Others' match. Party national president Amit Shah exhorted cadres to pledge to once again bring BJP to power at the Centre, with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
"Prime Minister Modi has given a decisive, transparent, sensitive, democratic government in the last five years. India is moving forward under his leadership. This government has not only raised the slogan of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, but also implemented it in letter and spirit," Shah said in his opening address at the party's two-day national convention in New Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.
Shah asserted that the victory for BJP is important for 50 crore poor people of this country, for the youth and for women who have suffered "neglect" under the previous Congress dispensations.
The BJP chief said the party was in power in only six states when it won the 2014 polls. "Today, the party is in power in 16 states. The membership of the party has risen from 2.4 crore in 2014 to 11 crore at present," he said.
On the eve of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the BJP president said, "Prime Minister Modi will fulfill the dream of an India that Swami Vivekananda envisioned."
Shah said under Modi government, the economic parameters of the country have improved significantly. "From ninth largest economy in 2014, we are now the sixth largest economy," he said.
Shah said the Modi government has taken 50 historic decisions since it came to power, and two major decisions in the last week alone that have massive implications for the future. "The first is providing 10 per cent reservation for the poor from upper castes in education and jobs. The second one is simplification of the GST and the relief given to small traders and manufacturers," he said.
Shah also described Modi as the most popular Prime Minister since Independence and the most popular leader of the world.
Reeling off statistics related to the government's achievements, Shah said that in the last four-and-a-half years, 6 crore women received free LPG connections, 9 crore households got toilets, 2.5 crore houses were electrified and 2.5 crore got free housing. He described Ayushman Bharat as the world's largest health insurance programme. "As many as 50 crore people of the country are receiving Rs 5 lakh health insurance cover for hospitalisation and other expenses," he said.
Shah recalled the contributions of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the patriarch of the BJP and a former prime minister. "Though there is a vacuum in the party after his the demise, he will always remain with the people and the party as it pursues his goals," he said.
At a time the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are building pressures on the BJP over the issue of Ram temple, the BJP president said, "We are in favour of constructing a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya at the earliest at the birth place of Lord Ram, but in a constitutional way. We will expose the hurdles placed by the Congress on this issue," he said.
Shah said the Congress is spreading "canards" on Rafale issue. "The Congress continues to indulge in lies and calumny even after the Supreme Court order," he said. Complimenting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Shah said they have "rightly exposed" the "lies" of the Congress.
Thee meeting is said to be the biggest ever national convention of the party. All Union Ministers, national executives, national council members, state leaders and an estimated 12,000 karyakartas are attending the two-day convention.
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