After victories, Modi reaches out to minorities

A day after the BJP got a landslide mandate in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to minorities and said that his party’s governments will take everyone along.

“The BJP government is for those who voted for us and those who did not. The government in UP and other states is for all and they will take everyone along. A government is formed after getting the majority of votes, but it functions on consensus,” Modi insisted, striking a note of conciliation after the saffron surge in the UP saw the BJP winning 325 out of 403 seats, relegating the SP-Congress alliance and the BSP to margins.

After his victory lap, which started from a square near Le Meridien hotel at 6 pm and ended less than 200 metres away from BJP’s Ashoka Road headquarter, Modi advised elated party workers to accept the unprecedented victory with “all humbleness”.
He drew a parallel between the electoral sweep and a fruit-laden tree that he explained bows due to its weight.

He repeated what he had said while releasing the ‘Sankalp Patra’ during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls — “I’m new, I can make mistakes, but I will not work with wrong intentions.” Another assurance that he had made, which the prime minister said he still lives upto is that he will put “maximum effort” and with “honesty”.

Emerging more confident and strong after the verdict, Modi also laid out his vision of an “emerging new India”, which he said would be anchored by power of the poor, the youth and aware women.

“I’m witnessing a new India,” he stressed, but set 2022 as the milestone for achieving the goal, so that it coincides with the country turning 75.

With the UP results showing that most backward castes voted for the BJP, Modi said he could see that poor are not seeking entitlements, but opportunities to empower themselves and see growth in the country.

He took a dig at whom he called ‘political pundits’, asking them to “introspect” for failing to read the “unprecedented turnout” that led to “unprecedented results”, alluding to the three-fourth majority the BJP got in UP and Uttarakhand. Congratulating party chief Amit Shah on the phenomenal show in polls, Modi said, “This is a golden period for the BJP and we have reached here with sheer hard work. With every election, support for the BJP is increasing across the country.”