Gujarat Chief Minister addressed the BJP’s ‘Vikas Rally’ in New Delhi:
his first rally in the city after becoming the prime ministerial
candidate of the party for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The rally was
organised in view of the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, scheduled to
be held in November.
Once Modi took a seat on stage to AR Rahman’s “Maa Tujhe Salaam”, the crowd, especially a group of youngsters close to the stage, chanted his name and did not let other speakers continue for very long. Referring to the crowd of noisy, sloganeering youth near the media stage, Modi said, “The media has noted your chanting. The TV cameras have captured. Now, let me talk to the people at the back,” he said. There were several gimmicks at the venue, including a special shankh (conch shell) player, Ram Chandra Yogi, who had been specially flown in from Benaras. Jogi played the shankh for a breathless three minutes before Modi started.
During the rally, Modi attacked the Congress and the UPA government, especially on issues related to defence and foreign affairs. “The Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA regime built 24,000 km of road in a single term, but the UPA has not been able to build more than 16,000 km of road in the last nine years,” he said. He ascribed the UPA’s set of failure to the lack of cooperation between its allies and said that the alliance was not organic. “They are together but not united,” he said. He described the present government as a “dynastic rule” and “not a true people’s democracy.”
He also questioned the ability of the Prime Minister to ensure the security of the nation’s borders: “Will the PM be able to stop Pakistan-aided terror? Can he get back the heads of the soldiers who were martyred along the Line of Control?”
However, he asked people to cheer for the Indian Prime Minister who is in the United States for a UN general assembly summit along with meetings with the heads of state of Pakistan and the US.
Reacting to Nawaz’s Sharif purportedly calling Manmohan Singh a “dehaati aurat” (village woman) Modi said, “How dare Nawaz Sharif compare our Indian PM with a village woman?” He also lashed out at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for opposing the Cabinet’s decision to pass the ordinance on allowing criminals to stand for elections. Linking Sharif’s supposed statement with Gandhi’s, he said that Gandhi had disrespected the Constitution, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet by this act and that was why Sharif was making such remarks about the Prime Minister.
Diplomats from various embassies and diplomatic missions in the national capital were present at the rally. BJP overseas cell in-charge Vijay Jolly said that representatives were present from Japan, Russia, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, Congo, Ukraine amongst others. “We wanted to show them what is happening in India at the grassroots level,” he added.
There was also a large contingent of youth there. Many sections of his speech were directed at young voters. “The Prime Minister has gone to the US and in the meeting with the US President, has presented the country as a poor nation. This is like the filmmakers who come to our country and make a film on its poverty to win awards. Did he talk about 65% of our population which is less than 35 years age?” Modi asked. He also pointed out the lack of youth programmes and initiatives by the Congress-led UPA.
Speaking before Modi, Nitin Gadkari, former BJP national president and in-charge of Delhi assembly elections, spoke on corruption and how the party was not against minorities, but against terrorists. He claimed that the Congress was trying to use the CBI to falsely implicate Modi and other Gujarat ministers in criminal cases.
The only other non-Delhi BJP leader to speak was Navjot Singh Sidhu, former cricketer and BJP MP from Punjab. Sidhu added comic relief to the meet with comments such as “Congress Munni se zyada badnaam ho gayi hai” (The Congress has a worse reputation than Munni, a reference to a popular Bollywood song). About Manmohan Singh, he said, “Aisa PM jo na sardar hai, na asardar hai.” (The PM is neither a true sardar nor effective.
Even though the rally was held to canvass for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, Modi primarily targeted the central government. He mentioned Delhi in the context of the Commonwealth Games and said that countries such as South Korea and China, though developing nations, had built a name for themselves through sports and had even hosted the Olympics. “We had our chance and we lost it. The loot was not only of the treasury, but of our faith and name, which have been eroded,” he said.
Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel took on the Congress and the Delhi government. “Sheila Dixit is like my dadi (grandmother) and I challenge her to a debate at a venue of her choice,” he said.
Since being anointed the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, Modi has addressed three major rallies – at Rewari, Bhopal and Delhi. While there were reportedly five lakh people at the Bhopal rally, the estimated number of attendees at his rally in New Delhi was similar to that of Rewari, between 2 – 2.5 lakhs.
Once Modi took a seat on stage to AR Rahman’s “Maa Tujhe Salaam”, the crowd, especially a group of youngsters close to the stage, chanted his name and did not let other speakers continue for very long. Referring to the crowd of noisy, sloganeering youth near the media stage, Modi said, “The media has noted your chanting. The TV cameras have captured. Now, let me talk to the people at the back,” he said. There were several gimmicks at the venue, including a special shankh (conch shell) player, Ram Chandra Yogi, who had been specially flown in from Benaras. Jogi played the shankh for a breathless three minutes before Modi started.
During the rally, Modi attacked the Congress and the UPA government, especially on issues related to defence and foreign affairs. “The Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA regime built 24,000 km of road in a single term, but the UPA has not been able to build more than 16,000 km of road in the last nine years,” he said. He ascribed the UPA’s set of failure to the lack of cooperation between its allies and said that the alliance was not organic. “They are together but not united,” he said. He described the present government as a “dynastic rule” and “not a true people’s democracy.”
He also questioned the ability of the Prime Minister to ensure the security of the nation’s borders: “Will the PM be able to stop Pakistan-aided terror? Can he get back the heads of the soldiers who were martyred along the Line of Control?”
However, he asked people to cheer for the Indian Prime Minister who is in the United States for a UN general assembly summit along with meetings with the heads of state of Pakistan and the US.
Reacting to Nawaz’s Sharif purportedly calling Manmohan Singh a “dehaati aurat” (village woman) Modi said, “How dare Nawaz Sharif compare our Indian PM with a village woman?” He also lashed out at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for opposing the Cabinet’s decision to pass the ordinance on allowing criminals to stand for elections. Linking Sharif’s supposed statement with Gandhi’s, he said that Gandhi had disrespected the Constitution, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet by this act and that was why Sharif was making such remarks about the Prime Minister.
Diplomats from various embassies and diplomatic missions in the national capital were present at the rally. BJP overseas cell in-charge Vijay Jolly said that representatives were present from Japan, Russia, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, Congo, Ukraine amongst others. “We wanted to show them what is happening in India at the grassroots level,” he added.
There was also a large contingent of youth there. Many sections of his speech were directed at young voters. “The Prime Minister has gone to the US and in the meeting with the US President, has presented the country as a poor nation. This is like the filmmakers who come to our country and make a film on its poverty to win awards. Did he talk about 65% of our population which is less than 35 years age?” Modi asked. He also pointed out the lack of youth programmes and initiatives by the Congress-led UPA.
Speaking before Modi, Nitin Gadkari, former BJP national president and in-charge of Delhi assembly elections, spoke on corruption and how the party was not against minorities, but against terrorists. He claimed that the Congress was trying to use the CBI to falsely implicate Modi and other Gujarat ministers in criminal cases.
The only other non-Delhi BJP leader to speak was Navjot Singh Sidhu, former cricketer and BJP MP from Punjab. Sidhu added comic relief to the meet with comments such as “Congress Munni se zyada badnaam ho gayi hai” (The Congress has a worse reputation than Munni, a reference to a popular Bollywood song). About Manmohan Singh, he said, “Aisa PM jo na sardar hai, na asardar hai.” (The PM is neither a true sardar nor effective.
Even though the rally was held to canvass for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, Modi primarily targeted the central government. He mentioned Delhi in the context of the Commonwealth Games and said that countries such as South Korea and China, though developing nations, had built a name for themselves through sports and had even hosted the Olympics. “We had our chance and we lost it. The loot was not only of the treasury, but of our faith and name, which have been eroded,” he said.
Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel took on the Congress and the Delhi government. “Sheila Dixit is like my dadi (grandmother) and I challenge her to a debate at a venue of her choice,” he said.
Since being anointed the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, Modi has addressed three major rallies – at Rewari, Bhopal and Delhi. While there were reportedly five lakh people at the Bhopal rally, the estimated number of attendees at his rally in New Delhi was similar to that of Rewari, between 2 – 2.5 lakhs.