The PM said the country needed to pull off a “long jump” to be counted among advanced nations on the 75th year of its independence in 2022. Modi said the focus of BJP governments and its allies, whether at the Centre or in states, should be to make the lives of the poor sustainable, ensure social justice and economic equality to workers and peasants.
On social justice, he spoke about efforts to give constitutional status to a National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes, saying this would benefit all OBCs across religions.
Briefing the media on the PM’s speech, BJP leader and Cabinet minister Nitin Gadkari said Modi underscored how “Muslim sisters” suffered because of ‘triple talaq’.
The government didn’t want conflict or tension within the Muslim community, and its women deserved social justice, Gadkari quoted Modi.
The PM said the cornerstones of his government’s vision would be Jan Dhan, economic empowerment of the poor; Van Dhan, forest-based economy to empower the tribal population and protect the environment; and Jal Dhan, to ensure better irrigation.
He talked about the need to protect the livelihoods of the tribal population, and on ethical exploitation of natural resources.
Odisha is a state the BJP aims to win in 2019. According to the 2011 census, tribals comprised 22 per cent of its population.
The BJP also plans to do better in the northeastern states, which have sizable tribal populations.
On Jal Dhan, Gadkari said the Modi government was the first to allocate Rs 85,000 crore as part of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, adding that better water management would reduce agrarian stress, bring prosperity to villages and reduce farmer suicides.
The PM said merely building infrastructure such as roads and hospitals wasn’t enough. Delivery of services in hospitals, schools and state-run transportation was important.
On allegations of rigging of electronic voting machines (EVMs), he asked his party colleagues not to pay heed to “manufactured controversies”. Similar controversies, he said, had been raked up over ‘award wapsi’ and alleged attacks on churches.
Modi asked party leaders to implement the pro-poor vision and achieve the dream of constructing a “new India”. He called upon them to take inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, who pursued the objective of India’s independence with single-minded focus from 1922.
Party chief Amit Shah said the BJP had an iconic leader in Modi and should leverage it to expand across India.
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