Modi sets tone for LS polls, targets mahagathbandhan
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday gave a clarion call to BJP workers with the slogan “Ajay Bharat, Atal BJP” and derided the opposition’s “opportunistic efforts” to form a “mahagathbandhan” on the concluding day of the party’s national executive meet.
Addressing the BJP workers, PM Modi paid rich tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee through his slogan.
The new slogan, ‘Ajay Bharat, Atal BJP’, means an India which is victorious and cannot be subjugated by anyone and a party which is committed to its principles, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while briefing the media about Modi’s speech during the closed-door meeting.
Taking a swipe at opposition parties for trying to cobble together a grand alliance, PM Modi said that such efforts are a “vindication of BJP’S work”.
“People who do not see eye to eye are thinking of a grand alliance. It is a vindication of our work,” said PM Modi.
Describing the ‘mahagathbandhan’ in his own words, Modi said, “Netritva ka pata nahi, niti aspashth, niyat brasht (Leadership
is missing, ideology is unclear, and intention is corrupt). “
Launching a scathing attack at the Congress, PM Modi said that the party could not even succeed in its role as an opposition.
He said that no one, not even smaller parties, was ready to accept the leadership of the Congress in such an alliance.
“We do not have any challenge. There should be opposition in a
democracy, but those who were a failure in the government are also a failure in opposition,” Modi said.
He further remarked that BJP’S 48 months in power are better than 48 years of Congress’ rule.
“Question our work, and we will be willing to fight. Compare the 48 years of their rule and 48 months of our government and then judge,” Modi said.
He emphasised the impor-
tance of the party’s ideology and said that BJP has both strategy and principles. “We have principles and strategy. Principles remain firm, and strategies keep changing from time to time,” Modi said.
Party chief Amit Shah, who also spoke at the meeting, asserted that BJP would remain in power for 50 years after emerging victorious in next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
“We will win 2019 polls, and nobody will be able to remove us for the next 50 years after that. We are not saying this out of pride but by our work,” Shah said.
A political resolution was presented by home minister Rajnath Singh reaffirming the party’s commitment to building “New India by 2022”.
The party said the opposition’s plan to defeat BJP in 2019 is a “daydream”.