‘Ladakh, Karnataka win has shunned Hindi heartland tag’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invoked the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in mountain-locked Ladakh Parliamentary constituency in Jammu and Kashmir to prove the political pundits wrong, who had quite often been describing the BJP as “Hindi heartland party”.
In his address at Varanasi, a Parliamentary constituency which he won with thumping margin for second consecutive time, Modi said: “There is no region where the BJP’s poll percentage is not rising. We have won Parliamentary seat in Ladakh, have Government in Assam, our party has secured maximum seats in Karnataka, yet political pundits say (ours is) Hindi heartland politics. This is a misconception that has been created”.
The BJP has won Ladakh Parliamentary constituency in Jammu and Kashmir for the second consecutive term with its candidate Jamyang Tsering Namgayal, sitting Chief Executive Councilor-cum-Chairman of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh retaining the seat with about 11,000 votes. In 2014, BJP candidate Thupstan Chhewang had won Ladakh seat with 36 votes but he had resigned from the BJP as well as Lok Sabha membership last year.
Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t campaign in Ladakh, he had visited the region during his tenure to initiate developmental works.
The Prime Minister also referred to sacrifices given by the BJP in Kashmir, West Bengal and Kerala.
“We in the BJP have faced two challenges—political violence and political untouchability. Why are our workers killed or attacked in Kashmir, Kerala or Bengal. It is shameful and anti-democratic,” Modi tweeted after the rally.
He said violence has been given legitimacy, which is a danger before us.
“Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi had shunned untouchability but unfortunately, political untouchability is rising.BJP workers were murdered,” Modi said. He said the BJP success story is full of sacrifices.
Though a number of BJP leaders and workers have been killed by the militants, only this month, party leader Ghulam Mohammad Mir, who had contested election from Tral Assembly seat in Kashmir twice, was shot dead by the militants at Nowgam Verinag. He was without security cover. Tika Lal Taploo was the first prominent BJP leader in Kashmir to fell to the militant bullets, leading to migration of Kashmiri Pandits.
PTI adds:
Modi, who will be taking oath as the Prime Minister for the second time on May 30, said the hat trick of victories in 2014, 2017 and 2019 in Uttar Pradesh is no mean achievement for the BJP.
“For the country, I’m the Prime Minister, but for the people of Varanasi I’m an MP, I am your `Sevak’, he told the electorates in his virtual thanks-giving address in which he touched the BJP’s major success story.
Thanking party workers profusely for braving the sweltering summer heat to reach out to the electorate and for ensuring that campaign goes on smoothly, Modi said the workers have passed the test with distinction.
Admitting that politics is about perception, Modi lamented that a wrong impression had been created about his party through lies and wrong logic.
“Because of this wrong awful perception, people do not like standing with us. But those creating bad and wrong perception can be defeated with the help of transparency and hard work. This is the strategy to trounce it,” he said.
Stressing on coordination between the Government and party organization, he said, “the perfect synergy between the Government and party organization was a big power and the BJP has realised it.”
“The Government makes policies while organization makes rann-niti (strategy). The synergy of niti (policies) and ranniti (strategy) is the mirror of sarkar and organization and the country is getting its benefits,” he said.
“Work and workers create wonders,” he said, giving full credit for his victory to the workers at the grassroots level for creating awareness of his Government’s policies and programmes for the people.
Amid such hatred, BJP’s mantra remains ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, Modi said adding that unlike others, his party has not come under the pressure of vote bank politics which has “spoiled” democracy.
The Prime Minister said he was also grateful to his opponents who fought against him.
Stressing on the significance of Opposition in democracy, he said: “When others come to power, there is no sign of opposition”.
He cited the example of Tripura where there was no Opposition during the 30 years of Congress Government but “now that we are in Government there is a ‘jaandar and shandar vipaksh’. This is the spirit of democracy.”
Thanking Uttar Pradesh for showing the way for India and strengthening the foundation of healthy democracy, the Prime Minister also spoke about his Kedarnath visit after the completion of polling.
“Since the people of Kashi had ordered me not to come here for a month after filing my nomination papers, I thought if not Baba in Kashi then (baba) elsewhere,” he said, adding perhaps no other candidate is as satisfied or contended as he was (before the results are announced) and its reason was the confidence of Kashivasis.
Modi, who offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple, visited the temple town four days after steering his party to a huge win.
The BJP won 303 out of the 542 seats in the Lok Sabha this time.
Earlier, BJP president Amit Shah said Modi has only shown a glimpse of development and Kashi will turn into an amazing city in the next five years.
In the city along with the Prime Minister for thanking the electorate and party workers for the landslide victory in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the BJP president said what a difference had come in Kashi of 2014 and today.
Hinting at the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, he said some media was predicting Modi will not get clear majority but the party successfully gave a call for working on achieving 50 per cent vote share.
Both Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in their speeches here, focused on the “grueling” campaigning Modi undertook in the run up to the general elections.
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