Shiva gives me strength to digest poison, says Modi in hometown
VADNAGAR: Visiting his hometown Vadnagar for the first time as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi in an emotional address on Sunday said the blessings of Hatkeswar Mahadev (Lord Shiva) has given him strength to digest poison since 2001.
The visit to his birthplace came 16 years after Modi, the then BJP general secretary, on October 7, 2001, returned from Delhi to Gandhinagar to become Gujarat chief minister. Soon after his maiden assembly election win in February 2002, his government had received flak for its “failure” to contain post-godhra riots.
Modi arrived here around 9.30am amid warm welcome from locals who lined up on either side of roads and lanes, showering flowers on the PM who stood on the sidestep of his SUV.
Modi’s first stop in the town was his alma mater, BN Vidyalaya. He walked around 50m to reach the school where he bowed down, touched the ground, and put soil tilak on the forehead. Before returning to his SUV, he shook hands with his old friends and neighbours.
His next stop was Hatkeshwar Temple. After offering prayers, he went on to inaugurate Gujarat government’s medical college and hospital.
This is the first government medical college for north Gujarat, which is the epicentre of the Patidar agitation for reservation in government colleges and jobs. The inauguration by Modi — who was accompanied by Patel leaders, including former CM Anandiben Patel, deputy CM Nitin Patel, and Patidar MLAS from the region — is being seen as a move to pacify the community, which is up in arms against the BJP government over OBC quota.
“Bholenath (Lord Shiva) is in Vadnagar, from where my journey started. He is in Kashi too (Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency), where I have reached now. Bholenath has the power to con- sume and digest poison. His blessings have given me the strength to digest all the poison that I have received since 2001. No matter who spews venom, I have the strength to serve the motherland,” he said.
“Coming back to hometown and receiving such a warm welcome is special. Whatever I am today is due to the values I have learnt on this soil,” Modi said.
Slamming the previous UPA governments for “not paying attention” to the health sector, he said, “The Vajpayee government had formed the health policy. But then came a government for 10 years that hated development. As a result, a new health policy has been formulated by our government after 15 years.”
Modi said that work is constantly being done to make health care affordable for the poor and middle class. “We brought prices of stents down. Earlier, the middle class had to spend ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh on treatment of heart-related ailment and stents. Now, stent is available to them for 30-40% of the previous prices,” Modi said.