‘Mera Bharat, Mera Parivaar’: PM, BJP hit back at Opp. jibe
Lalu Yadav, others at Patna rally had said Modi has ‘no family’
Stealing the thunder from the Opposition yet again, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit back at the INDIA bloc and other parties over their “Modi has no parivar” jibe with “Mera Bharat, Mera Parivaar” (Bharat is my family). and the ruling BJP launched a social media campaign “Modi ka parivar”.
Reminiscent of the BJP’s 2014 “main bhi chaiwala” and the 2019 “main bhi chowkidar” campaigns for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leadership, Union ministers and supporters of the BJP and Mr Modi added “Modi ka parivar” in their social media profiles. The earlier campaigns were after the Opposition leaders’ “chaiwala” and “chowkidar chor hai” jibes at the PM.
Addressing a rally in Telangana’s Adilabad, Mr Modi said “Mera Bharat, Mera Parivaar”, saying all of India was his family and that his life was like an “open book”. Reiterating his commitment to the people of the country, the PM said he had left home at a young age with the dream of serving the people. The PM’s remarks were in response to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s jibe at the PM during the “Jan Vishwas Maharally” in Patna on Sunday where he questioned how can the PM accuse the Opposition of “parivarvad” when he does not have a family of his own. He also accused the PM of not being a “true Hindu”.
Noting that the Opposition had said he had no family, the PM asserted that “140 crore people of this country are my family. Mera Bharat Mera Parivaar (My India is my family)", and added that his “life is like an open book. People of the country know about it”.
“When I left home in my childhood, I left with a dream that I will live for the countrymen,” he said.
Soon after the PM’s remarks in Telangana, BJP president J.P. Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman, among others, and many social media users added “Modi ka parivar” in their profiles.
Launching an attack on the Opposition, Mr Modi
said that “leaders of the Opposition INDIA alliance, who are neck-deep in corruption, parivaravad (dynasty) and appeasement are losing their mind… Now, they have come out with their real manifesto for the 2024 elections. When I questioned about their parivarvad then they started saying that Modi does not have any family…”
“When he works late into the night and the news goes out, “lakhs” of countrymen write to him not to work so much but to take some rest… women, poor, children and senior citizens and those who have no one, belong to Modi and he belongs to them”, he said.
“That is why crores of people in the country consider him as their own and shower love like their family member.. That's why I say 140 crore countrymen, they are my family.”
Continuing his attack on the Opposition, the PM said that “dynasty parties” may have different faces, but “jhoot and loot” was their common character.
In Telangana, where the BJP is yet to make any electoral impact, Mr Modi said that while the “TRS became BRS”, it did not change anything, apparently for Telangana. Now the Congress has succeeded the regional party in the ruling saddle, but “nothing is going to happen”.
He alleged that the BRS did “scams” like the Kaleswaram lift irrigation project during its tenure and charged the ruling Congress with “sitting on files instead of taking action”.
The K. Chandrasekhar Raofounded Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), which ruled the state for about decade till late 2023, was later rechristened as the Bharat Rashtra Samiti.
At the rally, the PM listed out several development works undertaken in the past 15 days in the country and said this was to further strengthen “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” to “Viksit Bharat”.
He also recalled he had detailed discussions with all his ministers and top officials in New Delhi on Sunday about an action plan for a developed India.
Mr Modi further underlined his party's welfare of Adivasis and said the highest priority was being accorded in this connection.
The “dynasty parties” could not stand the work his government was doing for welfare of Adivasis, he said.
The "Samakka-Sarakka" central tribal university to be established in the state was a proof of his government's priority for Adivasi welfare, he added.
Further, “Modi's Guarantee” of development was now being discussed across the country and the implementation of various initiatives proved that “there is a guarantee that Modi’s guarantee will be fulfilled,” the PM said.