Modi appeal cuts across caste, communities

Narendra Modi is a 24/7 Prime Minister. He acts, he works, he thinks continuously. He designs better programmes and communicates more effectively than anyone else which is why the implementation and outreach are more effective. He personally follows up each programme. There is good programming, good delivery and good communication. All the three combined is Modi. There are 10-12 major programmes which have been designed and effectively implemented. They have directly impacted the people.

Our priority areas begin with housing. As much as 2.5 crore pucca houses have been built for poor families. Four crore new electricity connections have been installed. Then we have the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna for providing LPG connections to every poor household in the country. So far, six crore households have been provided with cooking gas.

The government has built as many as nine crore toilets. About 12 crore persons have been provided accident insurance cover. Over 14 crore Mudra loans have been given out, and 18 crore have benefited from Kisan Samman — income support of ₹6,000 each year for ten years. Then 30 crore LED bulbs and 34 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened and 50 crore people have been covered under health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat.

One can summarise the achievements of this government by these programmes, which have been implemented with a focus and vigour personally shown by the PM. These programmes have not shown any discrimination based on caste, creed and religion.

Larger reforms

Apart from these programmes that reflect the PM’s vision on distributive justice, ensuring basic amenities for each of our citizens, attention has been paid to larger reforms process as well. GST was a major taxation reform which had been in the works for years before we assumed office. The effective rollout of GST has been one of the biggest successes in the last five years. After the initial glitches, it has ultimately served every trader and businessman. There is overall satisfaction after a process of amendments and variations, which were sorted out in the GST Council. This is a responsible and responsive government that heard people out on how a major policy change affected their everyday life and made alterations wherever possible.

Infrastructural development has acquired a speed that one saw only during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tenure. The work on the Golden Quadrilateral and rural roads still remains the most impressive ever and our government has built upon that. There is one interjection here which I believe distinguishes the Vajpayee era from the Modi era that while Vajpayeeji focussed on big reforms and overall development, Modiji has an eye out for the most minuscule details on each of these pro-poor programmes.

Also, there have an immense improvements in the internal security situation. There were no bomb blasts of the frequency and nature that used to constantly happen in the UPA’s tenure. Inflation rate has remained at 3-4 per cent whereas the average during the UPA’s tenure was 10 per cent. This is the only election in which price rise or “ menhgai ” was not an issue.

These are some of the major distinctions that separate us from previous governments. We have brought about a general sense of well-being among the people — be it the middle class, the working class, farmers, traders or businessmen. The result is that Modiji received support from all sections of society, cutting across caste and creed. As the PM has said himself, caste, religion and community are no longer issues in India. There are the poor and there are those who are not poor. That is the only division and we want to bridge this divide.

Voting pattern

Most political calculations, especially those made by our opponents, went wrong because first of all, the extrapolation of the last assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on the general elections was a wrong assumption. People make a distinction between assembly and general elections — the chhota chunav and bada chunav .

We brought the Maharashtra elections forward in March 2000 after the Kargil war in 1999 because we thought Vajpayeeji’s popularity would help us but it did not. The same thing happened after we won decisively in the assembly elections in the same States of MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2003 and the elections were brought forward in 2004. In any case, barring Chhattisgarh, it was a very narrow defeat in both Rajasthan and MP. In Rajasthan, we got only 1.5 lakh votes less — that is, three votes less per booth. And in MP, we got 1.5 lakh votes more but still we got three seats less. These two are actually accidental Congress governments. As far as Chhattisgarh goes, the Maoists helped the Congress this time. They used to boycott the polls earlier but in the last assembly elections, they actually opposed the BJP and supported the Congress.

But this time, because national security was brought centrestage and a decisive leader delivered, people voted for Modi. And that is another big factor in this election — people did not vote for the candidate or party. They voted for Modiji.

In Rajasthan where I was present throughout, the trend was obvious. People were voting for Modiji and phool (Lotus, the BJP’s election symbol). The voting percentage in favour of the BJP increased this time by 3.6 per cent. What this meant was that we got 1.5 lakh votes less in the last assembly elections but we got 80 lakh more votes in the parliamentary elections. In MP, the BJP’s vote percentage increased by 4 per cent. In Chhattisgarh, it increased by 2 per cent.

Those who voted differently in assembly elections, have voted for the BJP this time. We won all the seats in nine States and three Union Territories. The Congress did not score a single seat in 14 States and three UTs. In 17 States, the BJP secured over 50 per cent of the vote. That is the extent of popularity and belief that the PM has among the people of India. This is New India.

The writer was HRD Minister in the previous government

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