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House can’t run without you, how can the country, PM asks women in Kashi

For the first time in the country’s history, women have come at the centre stage of policymaking...this is an important factor in India’s success story, says Modi

Updated on: May 22, 2024, 09:10:17 IST
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VARANASI “Tell us, when the house cannot run without you, how can the country run without you?” Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked women folk during a ‘Nari Shakti Samvad’ organised in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Tuesday where 25,000 women participated in it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a ‘Nari Shakti Samvad’ event organised in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Tuesday. (HT Photo)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a ‘Nari Shakti Samvad’ event organised in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

“Leaders of the INDIA bloc are openly saying they will destroy shakti. But after June 4, we will make your shakti (power) mahashakti (superpower). I am continuously working for you. Neither I get tired, nor do I stop. Your blessings give me fresh Energy,” he said.

Addressing the women’s conference organised at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University ground here, he said women were neglected during the Congress and Samajwadi Party rule.

“For the first time in the country’s history, mothers, sisters, women have come at the centre stage of policymaking...this is an important factor in India’s success story...You tell me, when the house cannot run without you, how can the country be run without you? This thing was not understood by the governments for 60 years. The Congress and SP governments gave only neglect and insecurity to women,” the PM said.

Modi recalled Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav’s “boys will be boys” remark while lauding the Yogi Adityanath government on women safety in Uttar Pradesh. He invoked a controversial remark made by Yadav a decade back while opposing capital punishment for rape. The SP leader had said boys make mistakes.

Taking a dig at the Samajwadi Party, Modi said: “Today, if the SP boys make a mistake, then Yogi ji’s government will ensure such strict action against them that they can’t even imagine.”

The PM spoke about the PM Surya Ghar Free Electricity Scheme and how it was helping reduce electricity bills.

He said: “Many tourists are coming here...business is growing, and people of Banaras are benefitting from this. Due to increase in tourist footfall, toy sellers, boatmen and auto rickshaw drivers are earning here.”

The PM further highlighted the BJP government’s achievements in building 11 crore toilets in the country.

Taking pot shots at “high prices under the Congress government”, Prime Minister Modi said the BJP government carried out multiple schemes that helped bring respite to the poor, including women.

“The Congress governments were identified by a popular song - ‘Mehengai dayan khai jaat hai’. Had the Congress been in power, your kitchen’s budget would have been three times more than the present,” he said.

“But this is the BJP and this is Modi, son of the poor. Modi continuously makes efforts towards reducing your expenses and increasing your savings,” he added.

The PM remembered his mother during his address and said it was the first time he filed the nomination from the constituency without seeking her blessings.

“This is the first time I have filed my nomination for Kashi without the blessings of my mother. Maa Ganga is my mother, that is why I said that Maa Ganga had first called me to Kashi and now Maa Ganga has adopted me,” Modi said in his address.

After the event, the PM offered prayers to Lord Hanuman at the Sankatmochan Temple here.