After bowing down to enter into the Temple of Democracy, Modi mentioned the legacy of Jana Sangha, sacrifice of last five generations and dedicated his Govt for the poorest of the poor.

We can’t forget our legacy of Jana Sangha and the sacrifice of last five generations, when this new era of responsibility has begun: Narendra Modi.

Rama Roy | New Delhi | 20 May 2014:: Without forgetting his saffron legacy of Jana Sangha, even in the highest applause for a land slide victory of his party BJP and the alliance of NDA, Prime Minister, Elect Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed his mandate as one of hope and trust and told his party colleagues that an era of responsibility had begun. 

In his maiden speech after being elected BJP parliamentary party leader, Modi looked to get his political messaging right as he promised to be inclusive and mindful of the poor and said he will give his party no reason to feel let down.

“Sarkar vo ho jo gareebon ke liye soche, jo gareebon ki sune, jo gareebon ke liye jiye, nayi sarkar gareebon ke liye samarpit hai. (A government should think of the poor, listens to the poor, live for the poor, the new government is dedicated to the poor”),” Modi said.

Seeking to reflect expectations raised by BJP winning 282 seats – the first time a non-Congress party has won a majority on its own — saying, “I am a very optimistic man; only optimistic man can bring optimism in the country.”

Hinting that he intends to be a long term player, Modi said the nature of the mandate indicated the faith reposed in the party and promised to present a sound report card when his government’s term ends in 2019.

“When we meet in 2019, I will give you and my countrymen a report card… I will live for India,” he said while speaking after being elected leader of the BJP parliamentary party in Parliament’s central hall.

He took care to strum the emotional chords of the assembled phalanx of BJP MPs, saluting the “sacrifice” of five generations of party workers and leaders as the reason for the saffron out achieving a majority on its own.

His genuflection to BJP seniors and pointed references to Deen Dayal Upadhyay seem intended to highlight his fealty to Sangh ideals and a subtle repudiation of criticism that his individualism is at odds with party ideology. 

During his speech to the BJP MPs in the Central Hall, Modi turned emotional when he referred to the absence of ailing senior party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said, “Had Atalji been in good health, he would have been here. It would have been the state of ‘sone pe suhaga’  (the icing on the cake).”

He then broke down as he referred to Advani’s speech, in which he said it was because of “Narendrabhai ki kripa” that the saffron parivar had achieved a clear majority in Lok Sabha. “Advaniji ne kaha ki Narendrabhai ki kripa hai. Kripa karke kripa ki baat na karein (Advaniji said Narendrabhai has done us a favour. Please don’t use the word kripa),” Modi said before breaking down in the middle of his speech. Rajnath Singh offered him a handkerchief.

Advani had made the reference while proposing Modi’s name as the BJP parliamentary party leader. He compared the BJP’s victory with historic feats like Independence and the opposition’s victory over Congress after the Emergency.

Continuing his emotional speech, Modi said, “Kya maa ki seva kabhi kirpa ho sakti hai? Katai nahin ho sakti hai. Jaise Bharat meri maa hai waise hi BJP bhi meri maa hai. Aur is liye beta kabhi maa par kirpa nahin karta, sirf samarpit bhav se maa ki sewa karta hai. (Can a son do any favour by serving the mother? Not at all. Like India, BJP is also my mother. A son never does any favour. He only serves the mother).”

Modi urged his party colleagues to serve this country with all purity and the motive of sacrifice. Paying his deep tribute to all the freedom fighters and the makers of Constitution, Modi expressed gratitude to the flag-bearers of the largest democracy in this world.

He offered glowing tributes to generations of workers of the Jan Sangh and BJP and suggested that his achievement was built on the foundations laid by them and with the support from senior party leaders. “No words will be enough to express my gratitude to the hard work towards furthering nationalist thought by five generations of workers who made this historic day a reality for BJP,” Modi said. “You can see Modi not because Modi’s stature is large. You can see Modi because the party’s senior leaders raised me on their shoulders.” These words of solidarity with party workers and praise got BJP members very much emotional.

Modi categorically mentioned the last five generations who dedicated and sacrificed themselves to lit the oil lamp (the symbol of Jana Sangha) initially and inculcated the pure Nationalism gradually and helped to reach the ultimate goal.

Sri Narendra Modi did not lose sight of the larger responsibility being bestowed upon him and promised to leave no stone unturned for the welfare of “125 crore Indians” in his new role as the Prime Minister. He said that “if each one of 125 crore Indians stepped forward one step, the country will move forward by 125 crore steps”. In such a way, Modi wanted to emphasize the people participation in the Governmental activities.

Notwithstanding his vitriolic election campaign against the outgoing Congress-led regime, Modi acknowledged the “good work” by previous regimes and promised to expand their good work. “I congratulate all previous governments and their leaders. We will take their good work ahead and work harder to fulfil people’s dreams and aspirations.”

He promised that his government will work for the uplift of poor and vulnerable sections of society.

“The government should hear from the poor and work for the poor. My government will be dedicated to the poor, youth and women. It will be a government of villages, farmers, Dalits and deprived sections. All efforts will be aimed to live up to their hopes and expectations,” Modi said.

Speaking ahead of Modi, Rajnath Singh too underlined that the BJP’s victory was made possible because of support from all sections of society. “We got support from all sections of society whether it was SC/ST or others. In fact, BJP has the largest number of SC/ST members elected to the Lok Sabha,” he said, presiding over the meet.

Modi, for whom this was the first visit to the Central Hall, stepped into Parliament after paying his respect to the institution in his own fashion of typical Hindu tradition– by bowing down at the footsteps touching his forehead on it. In his speech, Modi described Indian Parliament as the Temple of Democracy.

Sri Narendra Modi’s name was proposed as Prime Minister by senior-most leader L K Advani and seconded by Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari among a few others.

With input from TOI and IE. Pic. Courtesy: PTI.