Home India For us, desh bigger than dal, says PM Narendra Modi

For us, desh bigger than dal, says PM Narendra Modi

Sounding the development poll bugle for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Modi also lauded UP CM Yogi Adityanath for “successfully bringing about change in the state in six months”.

PM Narendra Modi addresses during a function for the launch of various developmental projects, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on Friday. (Source: PTI Photo/PIB)

On the second day of his visit to Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought to distinguish the BJP from its rivals, saying that unlike them, his party didn’t believe in indulging in votebank politics.

“Rajniti ka ek swabhav hota hai ki ve usi kaam ko karna pasand karte hain jismein vote ki sambhavna hoti hai… Lekin… hum alag sanskaron se pale bade hain, hamara charitra alag hai. Hamare liye dal se bada desh hai aur dal se bada desh hone ke karan hamari prarthmiktaein vote ke hisab se nahi hoti (Politics by its very nature makes politicians want to do only that work that fetches them votes… But we have been brought up on different principles, our character is different. For us, the country is bigger than the party, and therefore, our priorities are not dictated by votes),” he said, addressing a public meeting after inaugurating a ‘Pashu Arogya Mela (cattle health fair)’ and a set of toilet complexes named ‘Izzat Ghar’ in the Dalit-dominated village of Shahanshahpur, 25 km from Varanasi.

He thanked the gathering of people, assembled from villages across eastern UP, for coming from “chaaron disha (all over)”. Sounding the development poll bugle for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Modi also lauded UP CM Yogi Adityanath for “successfully bringing about change in the state in six months”.

Referring to the cattle fair, the PM said, “These animals don’t go to cast their ballot. They are not anyone’s voters.” He said that ensuring the well-being of cattle through such initiatives would help increase milk production in India. Modi and Adityanath were on stage when a crowd behind the media enclosure erupted into slogans – “hamari maange poori karo (meet our demands)”. Police and BJP workers desperately tried hushing them. After they calmed down for a while, another set of people shouted slogans, just when Modi began his speech.

Two women walked up to the barricades and shouted slogans seeking a separate state of Purvanchal, before police whisked them away. A few shikshamitras (auxiliary teaching staff), protesting against the SC ruling denotifying shikshamitras in primary schools, were also whisked away. Additional police teams were called to the venue towards the end of Modi’s speech.

Addressing the crowd, Modi assured that by 2022, there would be homes for the homeless, both in villages and cities, under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana. He said, “Main janta hoon aaj humne jo kaam uthaya hai, mushkil kaam hai. Lekin agar mushkil kaam Modi nahi karega, toh kaun karega (I know the work we have taken up is very difficult. But if Modi doesn’t take up a difficult task, who will)?”

Stating that governance should not be politically coloured, he said the earnings of farmers and agricultural workers would double by 2022. After the PM’s speech, hundreds of shikshamitras blocked the main road to Varanasi and police detained some of them.

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