Buoyed by the success in recent Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said some political parties do not understand that they would achieve nothing by making “false announcements”. The PM reiterated that the recent Assembly poll results have made it clear that ‘Modi’s guarantee’ resonates among people.

Also attacking on the recent caste based census initiated by certain opposition parties, Modi cautioned women against “divisive politics” seeking to split them and said they are one big “caste” who can take on any challenge together.

Modi’s comments are seen as a swipe at the Congress and other parties which have been pushing for a caste census while the prime minister has asserted that the poor, women, youths and farmers are the four biggest castes whose progress will lead to a developed India.

In his remarks after interacting with the beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, Modi asserted that it is necessary to win people’s hearts before winning elections and it is not right to underestimate people’s wisdom.

“Our government is not a ‘mai-baap’ government but a government that serves mothers-fathers. The manner in which a child serves his parents, in the same way this Modi works to serve you,” the prime minister said.

“Modi cares for the poor, the deprived whom nobody cares for and for whom the doors of offices were closed. Not only does he care for them but he worships them. For me, every poor is VIP, every mother, daughter, sister is VIP, every farmer is VIP, every youth is VIP,” he said.

The recent assembly poll results have made it clear that ‘Modi’s guarantee’ resonates among people who trust it, he said and thanked the electorate.

“But the question is that why the country does not trust those opposed to us. Some political parties do not understand that they would not be able to achieve anything by making false announcements. Elections are won by going among the people, not on social media,” the prime minister said.

“It is necessary to win people’s hearts before winning elections. It is not right to underestimate people’s wisdom. If some opposition parties had given primacy to serving people over their selfish political interests, then a big part of the population would not have lived in deprivation and hardships.” Had those who ran the government for decades worked with honesty, then the guarantees that Modi has to give now would have been fulfilled 50 years ago, the prime minister said.

The Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is being undertaken across the country with the aim to attain the saturation of flagship schemes of the government by ensuring that benefits reach all targeted beneficiaries in a time-bound manner.

Modi said it is a matter of satisfaction that people’s enthusiasm increasing as the Yatra vehicles reach more and more places.

He said nearly one lakh new beneficiaries of free cooking gas connection scheme have been added after vehicle of ‘Modi’s guarantee’ reached them.

“All women should remain together. Nowadays, some people are creating rift among women... All women have one caste which is so big that they can together take on any challenge,” he said while interacting with women beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY). An official statement later added that he cautioned women to be aware of divisive politics seeking to create a rift among them.

The ruling BJP has assiduously courted women voters with several welfare schemes, some surveys have shown that they have voted for the party more enthusiastically in a number of state elections.

He made the caste and women remarks while interacting with Priyanka Yadav from Darbhanga in Bihar as she noted as to how a number of welfare schemes of the central government helped her family tide over the financial crisis following the Covid-19 outbreak as they received free grain and cash benefit as well.

He urged her to create awareness about government schemes in her village and expressed satisfaction that the “Modi ki Guarantee” vehicles is reaching every village in the country.

He stressed that any welfare scheme must reach every beneficiary for it to be successful and said such programmes were earlier confined to papers and ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

Nazia Nazir, a milk vendor and VBSY beneficiary from Sheikh Pura, Jammu and Kashmir, said ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ has proved to be transformative for her village, with clean and safe tapped water supply reaching their homes while water issues once prevailed there.

Among the other beneficiaries with whom Modi interacted was Mona, a transgender, who hailed from Ranchi and now owns a tea shop in Chandigarh after availed a loan of Rs 10,000 through ‘PM Svanidhi Scheme’.

He reiterated the need for more transgender people to avail government benefits, underlining his government’s spirit of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ to ensure that development reaches every strata of the society.