BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday came down heavily on pseudo “secular forces” in the country saying secularism meant “nation first” and no appeasement to any particular religious community. Criticising the prevalent vote-bank policy, Modi said: “Respect to all and appeasement of none is what secularism means. It never promotes vote bank policy.”
Slamming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his appeal to the so-called “secular” forces to unite against Modi, the Gujarat CM said Singh spoke of the ideologies and practices prevailed in 1980s, but the present generation has disapproved of the same. He also accused the Government of not reading the pulse of the nation. “Youths of the country want development, education and employment. Secularism has become a tool for political parties to mislead people. It is the time of development. Our national policies should be based on no discrimination and welfare of all,” Modi said while addressing college students from across the country at the Manthan National Convention in the Capital.
He exhorted upon the leadership to focus on development of the society particularly the marginalised and deprived sections. “The poor have no religion. Wherever they go — a temple or mosque — they remain poor. Hence, the focus should be on sustained growth of the downtrodden. Contrary to my image of Hindutva, I will prefer creation of more toilets over the places of worship,” he maintained. The Gujarat Chief Minister rejected various definitions of secularism propagated by the political parties saying they were guided by vested interests and not social welfare. “The one religion is ‘India First’, one religious book is the Constitution of India, one bhakti (devotion) is Bharat Bhakti and one shakti (power) is the power of 125 crore Indians,” Modi said. Students from across the nation gathered at the convention at Thayagaraj Sports Complex on Wednesday and presented their recommendations to political leaders on 14 most critical challenges that India faces today.
Apart from Modi, Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, and Former Union Minister and eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani attended the function. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Shiv Sena spokesperson Rahul Narvekar and BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman too participated in a panel discussion. The aim of the programme was to encourage college students across the nation to come up with innovative solutions to 14 themes of critical national importance.
During his nearly an hour-long address, Modi laid emphasis on voting rights particularly for the first-time voters. He said the Election Commission should create awareness among the first-time voters by informing them through a letter regarding their eligibility to cast votes. He also advocated women’s empowerment saying the women should be involved in decision making process as merely ‘token empowerment’ would mean nothing.
Earlier, taking a dig at the Prime Minister over his appeal to secular forces to unite against Modi, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the PM is afraid of challenge posed by Modi. He also criticised the government for holding talks with Pakistan while militants from that country were attacking an Indian village in Jammu & Kashmir. “When the PM was meeting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, they occupied a village in Kupwara(Kashmir). Pakistan can enter at will, kill and go back, and we are almost on our knees saying please talk to us,” Jaitley said.
Attacking the Prime Minister over the Ordinance to shield convicted lawmakers, Jaitley said the Prime Minister’s post cannot be treated as an employment. “Prime Minister must be willing to leave his post, he must be willing to take decisions and defend them. If PM and the Cabinet are overruled by someone half his age and he waives that, he is incapable of taking harsh economic decisions, and that is what has happened in India,”’ he said.