Predicting that the BJP tsunami would uproot Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said the so-called secular parties were using Muslims as a "vote ka tukada" while depriving them of the benefits of development.
"In the name of secularism, political parties use Muslims as a vote bank to gain power. BJP's secularism is country first. While others believe in the policy of divide and rule, we use secularism to join people. For them, secularism is an election slogan, for us, it is an article of faith," Modi said while addressing a mammoth crowd at the Vijay Shankahnaad rally at Ramabai grounds here on Sunday."These parties are afraid of the wave sweeping in favour of
BJP. With the declaration of election schedule, this wave will become a tsunami and sweep away all the political opponents of the BJP," he added What a crowd it was at the Ramabai Ambedkar rally ground, the biggest in the state capital with a capacity of 5 lakh. Only BSP has so far held rallies there. Other parties have stayed away from this ground only because of its vast expanse. And in the BJP rally, the ground seemed to be bursting at its seams.
"The BJP is a party that honours human values. I am a backward who sold tea in my childhood and now the party has made me its prime ministerial candidate. I will be your 'chowkidar' (watchman) in New Delhi who would not allow anyone to lay his "hand" on the treasure chest of the people," Modi said.
Having a dig at SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had addressed a rally in Allahabad barely an hour ago, the BP prime ministerial candidate said: "Netaji says Modi should not compete on the size of crowds at a rally, this means Netaji has admitted his defeat." The crowd roared in acceptance.
When a section of crowd started chanting Modi, Modi, he stopped for a moment and said: "Netaji said we should talk about development and I like this idea. But Netaji, stop spreading lies about Gujarat."Then in his inimitable style, Modi asked the people present there: "Do you get electricityIJ" The crowd roared in negative.
"In Gujarat, all villages are electrified and they get power supply 24x7 while there is reservation in electric supply in UP." Modi again said: "In the last one year, over 150 riots took place in UP while in Gujarat not a single riot occurred in the last 10 years. Besides, he said, over 20,000 cases of atrocities against women were registered in UP in one year and still Netaji was asking us not to compare UP with Gujarat.
"Development is an intent and it is carried out with a design. The Samajwadi Party Government asked for lions and we gave them to UP. Now they asked for Amul and we gave them this also because it can transform the lives of farmers. Before Amul came to UP, the farmers used to get Rs 15 per litre for milk now the same milk would fetch them Rs 35-40 per litre," he said.
Modi said if the UP Government wanted, it could have sold its local trades like silk saree of Benares, the carpet of Mirzapur, the leather articles of Kanpur, the locks of Aligarh, the shoes of Agra, the brassware of Moradabad and itra of Kannauj in the international market. "But the Samajwadi Party Government is so engrossed in its vote bank politics that it has never spared a thought for these issues," he said.
Modi said that innovative ideas could change lives of people and gave the example of kite manufacturing industry of Gujarat, a traditional occupation of poor Muslim artisans. "It was a Rs 35 crore industry when I took charge. We have breathed life into this industry and now it is a Rs 500-crore industry," he said.Modi said that it was UP's bad luck that leaders who became ministers in Central Government used their influence for minting money.
"Ek mantri to koyla kha gaye," he said, mocking at Sriprakash Jaiswal. "And there is another minister who travels around the world but cheats preferentially abled persons," he said without naming Salman Khurshid who had called him "impotent".
Realising that lucknow belongs to Atal Bihari Vajpayee,Modi said: "Atalji used to say the road to Delhi passed through lucknow. But this undeveloped UP cannot make India strong. If you want to see a strong India, first make UP strong."
This being the last of the series of rallies of BJP prime ministerial candidate, the people saw a changed Modi, who recited a poem sent to him by a supporter and punctuated his speech with couplets
Gripped with Modi euphoria, the entire lucknow was painted in a saffron hue. The almost 12 km-road from BJP state headquarters on Vidhan Sabha Marg to the rally ground was dotted with hoardings and banners. Over 350 hoardings and 1,500 small boards and banners were put up across the state capital. The party also distributed three lakh T-shirts and five lakh caps having the photos of Modi during the rally.
Fifty lED screens were installed at different places to ensure that people could hear Modi's speech without any hindrance.Former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh joined the BJP officially on this occasion.