Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said women across the country had become the biggest group of silent supporters that keep voting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) back into power. In his first address after the BJP’s victory in Bihar elections and various bypolls, Modi said that women-centric schemes and programmes launched by the NDA government ensured support for them in all elections across the country.
“I saw many people on television and in newspapers talk about ‘silent voters’. The echo of these ‘silent voters’ must be ringing in everyone’s ears today…Women have become the biggest group of silent supporters of the BJP,” he said.
Asserting the work done towards protecting women in NDA-led states, the prime minister said that the poll results had made it clear that people will now support only those who work honestly for development.
Modi also lauded the party’s performance during the bypolls in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Ladakh, Telangana, Kutch and Manipur, the results of which were declared on Tuesday. In Gujarat, the BJP had woman all assembly bypolls whereas in Madhya Pradesh, where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been in power for over 15 years now, most of the by-elections were won the saffron party.
Praising BJP national chief JP Nadda for the party’s victory, Modi said that the BJP, which once had only two Lok Sabha seats and operated from only two rooms, was now on the path of expansion in the entire country.
Asserting that the only mantra for his party’s victory was ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas’, Modi said, “My response on Bihar is as clear as the mandate given by its people. The one reason for our victory is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas.” It was because of the work done towards development that youth, women, poor, oppressed classes and farmers backed the NDA, he added.
Showering praises on the Bihar Chief Minister, Modi said that it was under Nitish Kumar’s leadership that development and progress had been made in Bihar.
The prime minister also took potshots against the Congress party when, without naming it, he said that a “web of family-run parties has become a biggest threat to democracy today…Among them is a national party that has become enmeshed and obsessed with just one family.” The youth of the country understood this very well which is why it had repeatedly reposed its faith in the BJP, he added.
READ | Top Quotes from PM Modi’s Address to BJP Workers after Bihar Assembly Election Win
Issuing a stern message over political killings of party members that were reported from poll-bound West Bengal, Modi said that those that failed to fight the BJP democratically resorted to murdering the party workers. “Those who cannot challenge us electorally have resorted to killing our party workers. They think that by killing our workers they will realise their dreams (of retaining power),” he said, adding that no one could win votes by committing murders. “They should read the writing on the wall,” he said.
The prime minister thanked and praised the Election Commission, security forces and administration for peaceful and successful conduct of elections amid tough and challenging times. He also thanked the voters for proving the naysayers wrong and voting in large numbers during the coronavirus outbreak. The trust that people had been investing in the BJP was the biggest asset of the party, he said.
Party chief Nadda also credited PM Modi’s leadership and handling of the Covid-19 pandemic for the NDA’s victory in Bihar. He said people of the state have chosen ‘vikas raaj’ (rule of development) over an atmosphere of crime and anarchy.
“Questions were raised about the leadership of big and powerful countries during the coronavirus pandemic, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a bold and timely decision of lockdown that saved lives of a large number of people,” he said, while addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi at a post-poll thanksgiving event.
Amid a festival-like atmosphere with the crowd chanting ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai (Modi can make it possible), Nadda said that people of Bihar have put their stamp of approval on Modi’s work to deal with Covid-19 and help poor during pandemic. He also said Bihar has chosen ‘vikas raaj’ over ‘goonda raaj’, ‘DBT raaj’ over ‘loot raaj’ and LED over lantern.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here