“I have given a guarantee to my countrymen that India will be among the world’s top three economies in my next term as Prime Minister,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday while criticising the previous Congress-led governments for the failure of their poverty-alleviation programmes which were riddled with corruption.
Addressing a large crowd in Solapur, Mr. Modi’s speech expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party would win the 2024 Lok Sabha election and that he would return to power for a third term as Prime Minister.
Mr. Modi laid the foundation stones of eight AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) projects in the State worth around ₹2,000 crore, and dedicated 15,000 houses of the Raynagar Housing Society in Solapur whose beneficiaries include thousands of handloom and power loom workers, rag pickers, bidi workers among others.
“It is essential for India to be self-reliant country in order to be a ‘vikasit’ [developed] one,” said the PM, who was visiting Maharashtra for the second time in a fortnight.
Without naming the Congress party, he took potshots at the alleged inefficacy of the earlier Congress-led regimes, stating, “For a long time in the country, there used to be garibi hatao [remove poverty] slogans. But despite these, poverty prevailed. While projects used to be announced in the name of the poor, the beneficiaries never received any financial aid which used to be gobbled up by middlemen. We finished off these middlemen by eliminating ten crore of them and depositing ₹30 lakh crores directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries via direct transfer.”
Previous governments had thrown intent, policy and devotion in serving the poor to the winds, alleged the Prime Minister, while remarking that the intentions of the BJP-led Central government was “clear” and its policy was to make India a developed nation.
“I have given a guarantee to my countrymen that India will be among the top three world economies in my coming term. Earlier governments had coined slogans like aadhi roti khayenge [eat half a roti]. Why will my people eat half a roti when Modi is there? Everyone will have a full ‘roti’ to eat,” the PM said, in a jibe at Congress regimes of the past.
Mr. Modi claimed that 25 crore people had come out of poverty in the last ten years of his government.
Stating that his government was inspired by Lord Ram’s principles of governance with honesty, the PM urged the people to light the ‘Ram Jyoti’ on January 22 on occasion of the consecration of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, remarking that it will be an inspiration to remove poverty from their lives.
“On 22 January, we will witness a historic moment when Lord Ram will take his rightful seat in the massive Ram Temple at Ayodhya. Lord Ram did work that made his people happy. My government, too, is dedicated to the welfare and empowerment of the poor. We launched projects to ease the living of the poor. Earlier, our mothers and daughters faced severe humiliation for the lack of toilets in the country. Hence, our government first concentrated on sanitation and proper homes. The ten crore toilets that have been constructed through government schemes are much more than mere toilets: they a guarantee of the honour of a woman,” Mr. Modi said.
The highlight of the event was the PM handing over keys to beneficiaries of 15,000 houses of the Raynagar Housing Society in Solapur, which is the country’s largest low-cost housing project and the brainchild of Narsayya Adam, the stalwart Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader from Solapur. “Modi’s guarantee means ‘guarantee puri hone ki guarantee’. Lord Ram taught us to honour commitments made and we are fulfilling all goals we set for the welfare of the poor and their empowerment,” he said.
“It gives so much satisfaction to see dreams of thousands of families being fulfilled. Their blessings are my biggest capital. When I had come to do ground breaking of this housing colony project in January 2019, I had given a guarantee that I myself will come to handover the keys to you. Today I have fulfilled,” he said, quipping, “You know that Modi’s guarantee means the fulfilment of a guarantee.”
Mr. Adam, who shared the dais with Mr. Modi as well as CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, praised the Prime Minister for helping bring water to the housing colony and staying true to his promises in making the housing colony project a reality.
“I went to the Prime Minister’s Office with a number of issues including a water problem. Mr. Modi promised to give water here [Raynagar Housing Society in Solapur] under the National Thermal Power Corporation’s water policy. Today, I say with great pride he did not just get water, but the Ganges River itself…we have 24 hours water at no extra cost. The CM [Mr. Shinde] and the two Deputy CMs have been very helpful as well. A budget of ₹270 crores have been allocated through MHADA for the Raynagar housing project,” Mr. Adam said.
In 2019, the CPI(M) had suspended Mr. Adam from its Central Committee for three months for praising PM Modi during the public event in Solapur when Mr. Modi had come to inaugurate the same project. Mr. Adam had praised the PM for helping to clear the Raynagar project which had been hanging for last seven-eight years.
