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‘Started with two seats...’: PM Modi reminisces in victory speech, says development only poll plank
People are talking about silent voters, PM Modi said. “They are our mothers and sisters. BJP only takes care of them,” Modi said.
In a speech oft-punctuated by the chants of BJP workers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated India for showing unparalleled trust in the process of democracy, charted our the road map ahead and reminded the party workers how success came to BJP. The speech was part of BJP’s grand celebration at its headquarters in New Delhi following the resounding victory in Bihar assembly elections and in the other bypoll elections. Thousands of BJP workers assembled at the headquarters in what was the first gathering of this scale amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As he thanked the country, BJP workers in his speech, he also mentioned BJP chief JP Nadda — who delivered his first victory in Bihar after he took over the reins of the party — and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
“Thank you, not just because people voted for us but because we all celebrated this festival of democracy with great enthusiasm.The election may have been held in only some parts of the country but entire country’s attention was focused on news channels, Twitter and the election commission’s website,” he said.
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“There is something that we have almost forgotten. Earlier, a day after polling, we used to get news of repolling, booth capture. But today we only read news of the increase in the percentage of votes, female voters,” the PM said.
Thanking BJP chief JP Nadda for the victory, the Prime Minister said the implications of the results are far-reaching. “It wasn’t easy having elections. This expands on the results of the Lok Sabha elections. These elections are significant. We have won in the east in Manipur, in the Kutch desert. If you dedicate yourself to the country, try to do something new, you will get the results too. People see the hard work you put in, your intentions. So during elections, people suffer hardships to vote for you,” the Prime Minister said.
Taking a journey down memory lane, PM Modi said there was a time when the BJP had only two seats. “And we started from two rooms. But today we are everywhere. How did this happen? The answer lies in the verdict of yesterday. People are relying on our development plank. Development will be our only poll issue,” PM Modi said adding that BJP is the only party that has kept on adding more seats — also in states where it has been in power, indicating that there is no anti-incumbency factor as well.
“Good railways, better airports, bridges, internet connectivity, some will say, are not important in elections. People are telling political parties that this is not the case. This is going to be the basis of development. People who did not understand this...have lost their deposits,” PM Modi said.
In his victory speech, the Prime Minister attributed BJP’s electoral success to BJP’s governance. “ When people think of governance, they think of BJP,” the PM said.
A majority of exit polls, which predicted Mahagathbandhan’s victory in Bihar, attributed their miscalculation to silent voters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a reference to that and said that this has always been BJP’s strength. “Who are these silent voters? They are our mothers and sisters for whom the party is working relentlessly. Be it cooking gas or sanitary napkin, BJP has schemes for them and the work went on during the pandemic too.”
Without naming Congress, the Prime Minister slammed the family-run parties from ‘north to south’ and said these parties are threat to democracy. “It is unfortunate that a national party has become a family party. In this situation, we have to remain more alert to strengthen the democracy inside the party. Otherwise, how will we trust each other to take the party ahead,” the Prime Minister said, urging the youth from across the country to join the party.
