Addressing a massive BJP public meeting in Dhoraji on the evening of Friday 8th March 2013 Shri Narendra Modi took on the Congress-led UPA for their abysmal Governance in the nation. “There is an atmosphere of despair in the country, the youth can only see darkness. The Government in Delhi is failing on all counts,” Shri Modi affirmed.
He also slammed the Prime Minister for preferring to take to
shayari in the Parliament instead of talking about how the country is being taken ahead, what are the initiatives of the Centre. The Chief Minister lauded the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Smt. Sushma Swaraj for giving a fitting answer to the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha. He added that after Smt. Sushma Swaraj’s statements the Prime Minister realized that reciting couplets will not help and thus he swiftly changed track in the Rajya Sabha.
Shri Modi also described the recently presented Budget as empty. Giving another example of the failure of the UPA, Shri Modi pointed that bring the most youthful nation in the world, steps must be taken to strengthen the youth with the relevant skills. However, in the Union Budget only Rs. 1000 crore was allotted for skill development whereas a state like Gujarat has allocated Rs. 800 crore for various skill development initiatives.
Taking on the negative politics of the Congress, Shri Modi said conventional wisdom has it that for 100 days after a new Government is elected the Opposition resists from any criticism and negativity but the Congress started their negative politics within two days of the formation of the Government. “Congress is thinking as if the elections are not over. This shows their disappointment. People have comprehensively rejected them but they do not keep quiet.” He added, “I pity my friends in the Congress. It is because of the language they use that people have rejected them. My Congress friends do not understand that the people of Gujarat will never accept this language of theirs.”
The Chief Minister spoke about the steps taken by the Government to improve the water situation, particularly in Kutch and Saurashtra. Shri Modi recalled that for three months the state Government was under the Model Code of Conduct and the Election Commission prevented them from allowing water to reach the people. “That is why after forming the Government, the first thing we did is to look into the water situation. Even if we hear a small complaint, we promptly ensure that there is no inconvenience to the people.” On the SAUNI Yojana Shri Modi affirmed, “In Saurashtra every home is talking about the SAUNI Yojana. When I became the CM, the Budget of the state was Rs. 6000 crore but today, an initiative to provide water to Saurashtra is worth Rs. 10,000 crore!”
On the development in Gujarat, Shri Modi shared that the Government of India numbers point to Gujarat having the lowest unemployment. Furthermore, he cited the CAG report that pointed that Gujarat has witnessed the most commendable improvement in the battle against malnutrition. Speaking further on malnutrition, the Chief Minister stated that the state is determined to end this menace and that the Gujarat Government is the first Government that spent up to Rs. 800 crore to fight malnutrition. “I urge those who defame Gujarat to read this report and see what is written about Gujarat,” he said.
Shri Modi talked about the initiatives the Gujarat Government has taken for the empowerment of women. “On Women’s Day I want to say, earlier there was no property in the name of women. We took the decision that if a property is bought in the name of women, there will be exemption of stamp duty. We made efforts to ensure that the first beneficiaries of every Government initiative are the women.
On the occasion Shri Modi welcomed former Porbandar MP and senior Congress leader Shri Vitthal Radadiya and his son Shri Jayesh Radadiya into the BJP. Shri Vitthal Radadiya won in the 2012 Gujarat Vidhan Sabha elections from Dhoraji (Rajkot district) while Shri Jayesh Radadiya won from Jetpur (Rajkot district). He also shared that there will by-elections in Porbandar, Dhoraji, Jetpur and Limbdi and he urged the party Karyakartas and people to make the BJP victorious in them. “It is not about this caste or that caste, this village or that village…it is about the entire Gujarat, the 6 crore people of Gujarat,” Shri Modi declared.
Earlier, Shri Vitthal Radadiya spoke at the public meeting. He said that he made many efforts to strengthen the Congress in Gujarat but Shri Narendra Modi did not let them succeed. Lauding the development initiatives of Shri Modi, Shri Radadiya said, “People vote on the basis of work. On one hand Narendra Modi did work, he became known as Vikas Purush while we in the Congress did nothing.” He admitted that his mind did not allow him to keep opposing for the sake of opposing and that is why he took the decision of joining the BJP. Shri Radadiya came down heavily on the Centre for the cotton export ban. He also affirmed that the Congress would be wiped out of Saurashtra in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Among those present at the massive public meeting were BJP National Vice President and Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat Shri Parshottam Rupala, Shri Vijay Rupani, former Minister Shri Dilip Sanghani, former MPs Dr. Vallabh Kathiria, Smt. Bhavnaben Chikhalia and several other leaders. Several Congress functionaries including the Rajkot district President joined the BJP with Shri Vitthal and Jayesh Radadiya in the august presence of Shri Narendra Modi.
