Zeenews Bureau
Godhra: Hitting out the ruling Congress party, Narendra Modi said on Friday that the politics of vote bank must be stopped if growth and development has to take place in the country.
Against the backdrop of his Sadbhavana fast in Godhra, the Gujarat Chief Minister forcefully pointed out that it was his state which made the people aware of what the concept of ‘growth’ really was.
“Politics revolved around the issue of vote bank. It was vote bank which defined development. Everything was connected to the vote bank. Some people did benefit but the majority suffered. The vote bank was consolidated but the country suffered. This attitude of throwing crumbs at the people must be stopped,” he said without mincing his words.
Coming down heavily on the Centre for the soaring
inflation, Modi said, "Politicians, who are part of the Union
Government, had promised the people, during their election
campaign, that they would tame inflation within 100 days, if
they came to power. However, they were not able to do so."
Modi further said, "For the first time, development
has become a central issue of the nation. It is due to Gujarat
government and the work done by the six crore people over the
last 10 years that development has become a major issue in the
country."
Modi emphasized that there was two types of politics – one of divide and rule and the other of everyone together for growth. He goaded the people to choose what they wanted in the long run.
“I challenge the Congress party to come to the battle field if you have any concern for the farmers of this country,” the Gujarat Chief Minister dared the government at the Centre. He added that agricultural growth in Gujarat has crossed 11 percent. He asked the centre to compare it with the national growth.
On Gujarat he said, “The state has its own identity on the world map today. Gujarat told this country what the concept of development and growth is. People did not know what growth meant. The face of the state has changed in the last 15 years.”
He went on, “When any talk of Gujarat takes place, the talk veers towards development and growth.”
Modi further said that during the ongoing election
campaign in Punjab, the former chief minister of Punjab Capt
Amrinder Singh, a Congressman, promised that if he was voted
to power, he would take his state to the same heights as of
Gujarat.
Taking a dig at the Gujarat Congress, Modi said, he
understands the feelings of the Congress, "who have lost
everything after being in power for 40 years."
"Their condition is like a severed tail of a lizard,
which does not stop moving (for a while), even after it is cut
off," he said.
Modi further said, "Godhra has a history of communal
violence and there was a time in 1985, when there was a curfew
for 300 days. But curfews and riots have vanished since the
last 10 years. It is due to the atmosphere of peace, unity and
brotherhood in the state, which has resulted in development."
Modi said, his Sadbhavna Mission would end the vote
bank politics.
With PTI inputs
First Published: Friday, January 20, 2012, 17:01