E-Paper
A victory for truth in the land of Gita: Modi
The BJP on Tuesday won 48 of the 90 seats in Haryana, and 29 of the 43 seats in the Jammu region, although it could not win a seat in the Kashmir Valley.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in Haryana -- one that bucked trends and defied pollsters -- as a triumph of “truth over lies”, and said that the verdict would “resonate far and wide” at a time when it’s a massive shot in the arm for his party following a relative setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In a fiery speech at the BJP headquarters in the Capital, where he was felicitated with a shower of petals, Modi framed the larger context of the two assembly election results -- he described the Haryana victory as one that was crafted in the land of the Gita, a reference to the Mahabharata fought on the battlefield in Kurukshetra; and hailed the successful of peaceful elections in Jammu & Kashmir as a victory for the Indian Constitution.
Addressing raucous party workers who hung on to his every word, Modi also contrasted the BJP’sd ability to return to power in states -- it completed a hat-trick in Haryana -- and grow from strength to strength in every election -- it registered its largest vote and seat shares in J&K -- with the inability of the Congress to win back-to-back mandates across any region for decades.
This, Modi said, was a testimony to India’s belief in the BJP and its development agenda.
“The BJP is not just the biggest party in the world, it has carved space in most of the hearts as well. In Haryana, the BJP made a hat-trick based on its policy of development. The BJP gave freedom from the misrule of the Congress -- that’s why the people of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have been giving their blessing to it for more than two decades, and that’s why it continues to win from Goa to Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.
Read more: Nuh riots accused scores biggest win in Haryana assembly election; lowest margin of 32 votes is…
The BJP on Tuesday won 48 of the 90 seats in Haryana, and 29 of the 43 seats in the Jammu region, although it could not win a seat in the Kashmir Valley, resulting in the National Conference and Congress alliance securing power in the Union territory.
Referring to the history created by the party in Haryana, Modi said: “Haryana was established in 1966. Till date, 13 elections have been held in the state, and in 10 of these, the people of Haryana changed the government every five years. However, the people of Haryana have achieved something remarkable. For the first time, a government has been given the opportunity to retain power for a third straight time.”
He added the people of the state had voted for the BJP “chappad phad ke”, or overwhelmingly, across castes and classes.
“On such a holy day, the sixth day of Navaratra, lotus has bloomed for the third consecutive time in Haryana. Truth has triumphed in the land of the [Bhagwad] Gita. Development and good governance have won,” Modi said.
Lashing out at the Congress, the PM said that the grand old party, which for decades treated being in power as a “birthright”, was unable to handle staying out of office. “When not in government, the condition of Congress becomes like a fish outside water. That is why after coming to power, it does not hesitate in putting the country and society at stake,” Modi said.
The PM said that the Congress was led by people who were “not with a silver spoon, but a golden spoon”, and by people who had led a “lived a five-star life for generations”, and were now trying to “mislead poor people by spreading the poison of casteism in society”.
In a reference to the Congress’s repeated demand for a caste census in the country, and for claiming to fight for the rights of the most backward, Modi said: “Our Dalit, backward and tribal communities should not forget that it is the Congress which oppressed them the most and deprived them of food, water and shelter for so many decades.”
The Prime Minister’s scathing attack was also in response to the Congress’s allegations during the Lok Sabha polls that the BJP was eyeing a brute majority because it wanted to scrap caste-based quotas. “It is the royal family of the Congress that said it will end reservation.They wanted to snatch the reservation of Dalits and backward classes and give it to its vote bank... they wanted to do the same in Haryana,” Modi said, targeting the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Modi went on say that these statements by Congress leaders were an attempt to spread anarchy, weaken society, and stoke unrest among various groups such as farmers and the youth.
“The country has recognised their conspiracies. They led campaigns against the armed forces but the youth of Haryana saw through this…and have a clear message -- this will not work. All sections and families have come together to vote for nationalism,” Modi said. “I say this with responsibility that the Congress, a national party, and its friends are involved in this.”
While congratulating the National Conference for winning the mandate in Jammu & Kashmir, Modi made it to point to describe its alliance partner as a parasite that was thriving on the strength of its partner.
“The results have shown that the Congress is a parasite. In Haryana, they got a resounding defeat. In J&K, their ally suffered because of them... Wherever allies depended on the Congress they bore the brunt,” Modi said.
The NC won 42 seats in J&K and the Congress six.
Modi hailed the successful conduct or elections in Jammu & Kashmir as a huge success for the Union government, which five years ago abrogated Article 370 (it gave special status to the region), and downgraded it from a state to the two UTs of J&K and Ladakh.
“The election in Jammu & Kashmir was historic in many ways. This election was the first to be held after the complete implementation of India’s Constitution. After seven decades of independence, many sections of the society didn’t have the right to vote. In this election, they got the opportunity to vote for the first time. Many people claimed that the Jammu & Kashmir would burn if Article 370 was abrogated. However, it didn’t burn, it blossomed,” Modi said.
Speaking before Modi, party president JP Nadda credited the win to Modi’s popularity and said the PM worked tirelessly and with dedication to change the face of the country in the last 23 years. “It is the result of that work that the mood of Haryana and the country is ‘Modimay’ (in sync with Modi) and this proves once again that ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’ (If Modi is there, then it is possible),” Nadda said.
