Development for all should become a “people’s movement” as “days of incremental change are over”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while interacting with participants at the ‘Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath’ diaspora event at Westminster’s Central Hall in london on Wednesday.
“People are equivalent to Gods in a democracy and if they wish, even a tea-seller can become their representative and shake hands at the Royal Palace,” said the PM who arrived in the UK on Wednesday for a four-day visit for bilateral engagements as well as multilateral discussions as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Modi expressed happiness over raising Indians’ expectation from his Government. “Earlier, people had adopted a ‘chalta hai’ attitude, but now I’m happy they have high expectations from us,” he remarked.
On recent cases of rapes, the PM said, “This is a matter of great concern...The rape of a (daughter) is shame for the country.”
At the event being hosted by Censor Board chief Prasoon Joshi, the PM dwelled on surgical strikes in POK.
“Before the media got there, before my fellow countrymen woke up to the news, we informed them (Pakistan). We called up, they were afraid to pick up the phone. We informed them what we had done, we told them to get rid of the corpses they would find. We did our job. We did not hide anything. I will not tolerate anyone stabbing us in the back and making a business out of terror.”
“In our entire history, we have never tried to grab land from anyone else. We must remain vigilant, we must remain victorious at all times. But if someone’s made a business out of terrorism, then I know how to hit back,” said the PM.
Modi said India is “getting increasingly aspirational”, which is a good sign of development. Speaking about Mahatma Gandhi, he said, “During the freedom struggle, Mahatma did something very different. He turned it into a mass movement... Need of the hour is to make development a mass movement.”
Earlier Modi was welcomed with the customary handshake by his British counterpart Theresa May at 10 Downing Street. After Modi’s arrival in the country, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson received him at the Heathrow Airport.
Johnson said he was “excited” about the growing India-UK bilateral trade and that the visit will help build on “huge economic advantages”. “..Thanks to our shared history, we have a living bridge between us…,” Johnson said.
On people voluntarily giving up subsidy, Modi said over 40 lakh senior citizens have given up the concession in reservation of railway tickets. “In India, there is a railway ticket concession for the senior citizens. I told officers to give an option to them to forego the concession in the reservation form if they wish to,” Modi said at the london event.
He said neither did he make it mandatory nor did he make any appeal to the public to let go of the concession.
“And yet, till now, over 40 lakh senior citizens traveling in air conditioned coaches have voluntarily given up the subsidy. “Had I made a law to enforce this, there would have been wide protests,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that earlier he had made an appeal to the public to give up the lPG subsidy if they could afford it. “So far, 1.25 crore families have gave up the gas subsidy,” he said.
“There is no dearth of honest people in the county. It is our work to understand the potential of our people.” The PM said his life at the railway station was about his personal struggles and the person in the Royal Palace here was the ‘Sevak’ (servant) of 125 crore Indians.
“The person in the railway station was Narendra Modi. The person in the Royal Palace in london is the Sevak of 125 crore Indians,” said Modi during an interactive session at the Central Hall when he was asked about his journey from a railway station to the palace here.
“My life at the railway station taught me so much. It was about my personal struggles. When you said Royal Palace, it is not about me but about the 125 crore people of India,” he said.
“The railway station is a special part of my life as it made me go through the struggles of life from being a common man to the Prime Minister of India.
“People are equivalent to Gods in a democracy and if they wish even a tea-seller can become their representative and shake hands at the Royal Palace,” he added.