Modi lauds Khattar, Fadnavis for work
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in Haryana is “unprecedented” and it is for the first time in the past 50 years that a chief minister has completed a five year term in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his victory speech at the party headquarters on Thursday.
Modi told BJP workers that both the BJP governments have beaten the trend of anti-incumbency and the next governments, “under the leadership” of Manohar Lal Khattar and Devendra Fadnavis, will take Haryana and Maharashtra to new heights of development. “Khattar and Fadnavis were not even ministers in any previous governments before becoming chief ministers,” Modi said. “It was a young and new leadership that tried to take everyone along and serve people with commitment.”
Modi’s speech tried to answer critics who pointed to the BJP losing its majority in Haryana and failing to improve the combined tally with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
“There are few examples of a government returning to power after five years,” Modi said. “To emerge single largest party in such a scene is a big thing. The vote share also increased 3% compared to the last assembly election.”
The Prime Minister said until 2014, to get 5-10 assembly seats in an alliance was a big deal for the BJP, and the ally used to decide which seats goes to the BJP. Touching double digit was seen as a big achievement, Modi said.
The BJP was also a junior partner to the Shiv Sena until 2014, and every alliance government was led by the Sena where the BJP would get “some opportunity” to work. “BJP and Sena fought against each other in the last election, but people decided that they cannot remain separate. It’s BJP’s character to take everyone along.”
Modi said a “big majority” to the BJP-Sena alliance this time around shows people have reposed faith in the young and new leadership of Maharashtra. “Political stability is a must in a state like Maharashtra and Mumbai, India’s financial capital,” Modi said.
BJP chief Amit Shah, too, praised the leadership of Khattar and Fadnavis for delivering victories, and said Maharashtra and Haryana have not traditionally been BJP strongholds. “But it was a zero corruption government [in both the states],” Shah said in his speech at the BJP headquarters. “We have won the first two election in Modiji’s second term as prime minister and this shows that people continue to repose faith in the BJP.”