NEW DELHI: Faced with a taint over the 2002 Gujarat riots, Narendra Modi today vowed that he will not do anything with “bad intent” if he becomes Prime Minister as he outlined his vision.
“The party has bestowed me with certain responsibility. I want to make three promises personally – I will never be found wanting on hard work, I will not do anything for myself and I will not do anything with bad intent,” the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate said.
His thrust on doing nothing with “badh irada (bad intent)” assumes significance as certain sections, particularly the minorities, have apprehensions about his rule given the taint of 2002 riots.
Modi was speaking here at a function to release the party’s manifesto where he underlined that his main focus would be on “good governance and development” with a strong government at the centre.
Seeking a mandate for 60 months, Modi said the country is in bad state and full of pessimism and the manifesto outlines the “direction, goal and commitment” to correct the situation.
He said the government has the main responsibility of catering to the needs of the poor and deprived and his administration would focus on this aspect, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare. . Invoking the “track record” of NDA rule under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, Modi said the manifesto outlined the agenda of development which would be “all inclusive” and “all loving”, covering the entire country.
“For us, this manifesto is not an election ritual or a document. This is our direction, our goal and our commitment,” he said in presence of Advani and other senior leaders Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj. Arun Jaitley could not attend as he was filing his nomination papers in Amritsar.
“The 125 crore people of the country can feel the smell of their aspirations in this bouquet of our manifesto,” Modi said.
Pledging to provide a strong government with “zero tolerance” with regard to internal and external security, he said, “There will be such a strong government at the centre that no country dares to threaten us but should feel like being friendly. We will also not threaten any other country but have cooperation. Such will be the capability of our government.”
He said his government would rise to the expectations and aspirations of the people with the slogans of “Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat” (One India, Outstanding India) and “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (Helping All, Development of All).”
BJP President Rajnath Singh said the manifesto is like a pledge and its release is not a mere formality. He said the Congress which has ruled for so many years has not fulfilled the promises made all along due to which the nation has suffered.
“Had the promises made by Congress been fulfilled even partially, our nation would have become a world power,” he said, adding the ruling party has lent a crisis of credibility to Indian politics.
Talking about Modi, he said when BJP projected him as its PM candidate, many political parties made a lot of noise as if he is an “untouchable” in politics.
“As many as 25 political parties have allied with us,” he said in an attempt to stress on his acceptability, adding that no politician has faced as much political attack as Modi in independent India.
Singh said it was BJP’s commitment to ensure comprehensive and integrated development of India and also to check prise rise, corruption and economic disparity.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the manifesto is a source of hope for people at a time when nothing is “moving” and everything is shut.
“We have presented a document to make this country move and then run in some time,” she said.
Taking a dig at Congress’ “zero aversion” to FDI, she said their thought is to make India stand on FDI’s clutches while BJP wants the country to stand on its own feet, drawing from its internal strength. “Don’t worry. Good days are ahead,” she said. -PTI
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