A new era of responsibility has begun: Narendra Modi
NEW DELHI: After leading BJP to electoral history, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed his mandate as one of hope and trust and told his party colleagues that an era of responsibility had begun.
In a speech after being elected BJP parliamentary party leader, Modi looked to get his political messaging right as he promised to be inclusive and mindful of the poor and said he will give his party no reason to feel let down.
"Sarkar vo ho jo gareebon ke liye soche, jo gareebon ki sune, jo gareebon ke liye jiye, nayi sarkar gareebon ke liye samarpit hai. (A government should think of the poor, listens to the poor, live for the poor, the new government is dedicated to the poor")," Modi said.
Seeking to reflect expectations raised by BJP winning 282 seats - the first time a non-Congress party has won a majority on its own — saying, "I am a very optimistic man; only optimistic man can bring optimism in the country.
" Hinting that he intends to be a long term player, Modi said the nature of the mandate indicated the faith reposed in the party and promised to present a sound report card when his government's term ends in 2019.
"When we meet in 2019, I will give you and my countrymen a report card... I will live for India," he said while speaking after being elected leader of the BJP parliamentary party in Parliament's central hall.
He took care to strum the emotional chords of the assembled phalanx of BJP MPs, saluting the "sacrifice" of five generations of party workers and leaders as the reason for the saffron out achieving a majority on its own.
His genuflection to BJP seniors and pointed references to Deen Dayal Upadhyay seem intended to highlight his fealty to Sangh ideals and a subtle repudiation of criticism that his individualism is at odds with party ideology.
Though he did not bring up his "tea boy" past - a winning card during his campaign - Modi sought a common connect saying, "Today I'm standing before you as the son of a poor man. This is the strength of democracy."
Invoking 2015 as Deen Dayal Upadhyay's 100th birth anniversary as an occasion for BJP MPs to strive for exemplary behaviour, Modi promised to lead by example.
In a reference, perhaps intended as a contrast to the scam-hit Manmohan Singh government, Modi said, "I accept the responsibility you have reposed in me. You will never get an opportunity to look down on what my government will do."
At the same time, anticipating his new assignment, Modi looked to strike a statesman like note and shed some of the partisanship of a bitter campaign by praising past governments which he said had all done good work.
"Every one of them and its leaders have contributed to the welfare of the country and we will carry forward whatever good they have done," he said.
Modi took care to assure allies that a BJP majority would not mean a diminution in their value after he was elected leader of the alliance right after becoming leader of his party's parliamentary group.
"Even though BJP got a majority on its own, you remain as important as you would be if BJP did not get majority on its own," Modi told NDA allies during a brief speech after he was elected leader of the alliance.
In his address to BJP MPs, Modi said "since Independence the politics of this country has been Congress versus the other" and after the current Lok Sabha BJP could well have clearly emerged as the central pole of politics.
Referring to ailing BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi said "I know I have his blessings and will always have that with me, but his presence would have been the icing on the cake (soney pe sohaga ho jata)" amid thumping of desks.
He reminded party MPs of his outsider status in Delhi - and thereby the scale of his achievement - by saying that he had never entered central hall before being set to be elected PM-designate. He pointedly noted that the same had been the case in Gujarat where he entered the assembly only after becoming the chief minister.
Looking to sound a note of optimism after having slammed Congress for denuding the country of hope, Modi said "New hope has arisen for the common man. This is the biggest significance of this election results. At the end of the day this government is for the poor."
He asked party MPs to work with a purity of purpose and not the lure of designations. "We are here in the temple of democracy. We will work with all purity...not for the designation but the people of the country. Work and responsibility are the biggest things," he said. Modi said the full mandate was a reason why the outside world would view India with respect and expectation, adding that there should be no room for pessimism and because with pessimism nothing can be achieved.
He took care to be politically correct and said he owed his current stature to being raised on the shoulders of seniors and past leaders.
Modi's name was proposed by senior-most leader L K Advani and seconded by Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari among a few others.